This document summarizes factors for designing routing protocols in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). It discusses that MANETs allow wireless communication between nodes without a fixed infrastructure. Effective routing protocols consider factors like reachability, location-aided routing using GPS, energy efficiency to balance load, transmission reliability with acknowledgments, and metrics like packet delivery ratio and overhead. The document outlines different routing protocol classifications including table-driven, on-demand, and hybrid approaches. Location-aided and energy-efficient routing are highlighted as important design considerations.

1. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-6367(Print),
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FACTORS FOR DESIGNING ROUTING PROTOCOL IN MANET
Taniya Jain, Neeti Kashyap
Computer science department, Institute of Technology and Management, India.
Computer science department, Institute of Technology and Management, India.
ABSTRACT
Mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) is a technique used for communication between source
node and destination node. The communication between these two nodes is done with the help of
intermediate mobile nodes which works as routers. Data transmission between mobile devices needs
some routing mechanism for choosing optimal path. The classification of routing mechanism can be
done on the basis of routing strategies (which includes proactive, reactive, hybrid and flow- control)
and network structure (which has flat and hierarchical). On the other hand some of the factors that
are being considered for designing of routing algorithms are location aided routing, effective routing,
transmission efficiency, energy efficient routing etc. MANETs can be sub divided into (first)
VANETs: are used for communication among vehicles considering each vehicle as a node in the
network. (second) InVANETs: it includes artificial intelligence that helps vehicles to behave in
critical situations like accidents, etc.
Keywords: Mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), reach-ability, Location aided routing, energy
efficient routing, transmission reliability.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Routing
Routing means to choose a path. Routing in internet is the process of moving a packet of data
from source to destination by choosing a right path. Routing is an important aspect of network
communication because it enables messages to pass from one node or machine to another and
eventually reach the target. Each intermediate node or machine performs routing by passing along
the message to the node. The routing concept basically involves two steps: firstly, determining
optimal routing path, secondly, sending the data (packets).Sending process affects the performance
of any network, since other characteristics like reliability, congestion, throughput directly depends on
it[1, 2].
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2. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-6367(Print),
ISSN 0976 - 6375(Online), Volume 4, Issue 5, September - October (2013), © IAEME
Routing has two basic types: first, Static Routing: is done by the administrator manually to
forward the data packets in the network and is permanent as no any administrator can change its
settings [4]. Second, Dynamic Routing: is automatically done by the choice of router.
1.2 MANETs
Mobile Ad-hoc Networks have grown in popularity over the recent advancements in
technology as it is a versatile and self-configuring infrastructure-less network of mobile devices
connected by wireless network. A network being self-configured infrastructure-less means that it has
the ability to provide instant wireless networking in places where no pre-deployed infrastructure
exists. Each device in a MANET is free to move independently in any direction, and will therefore
change its links to other devices frequently. Each must forward traffic unrelated to its own use, and
therefore be a router. In this type of networking environment nodes and links can fail, and congestion
can arise in some areas. Thus, the routing algorithm needs to modify its routes, redirecting traffic and
updating databases very quickly and adaptively [1].
1.3 MANET types
1.1.1
VANETs are vehicular Ad Hoc Network which are used for communication among
vehicles on roads and between vehicles and roadside equipment. In this cars are treated as
nodes in a network and allow cars approximately 100 to 300 metres away from each other
to connect, hence create a network with a wide range. In this cars can drop out of the
network when they fall out of signal and other cars can join in when they come in the range
of signal.
1.1.2
In VANETs are intelligent vehicular ad hoc networks that are a kind of artificial
intelligence that helps vehicles to behave in intelligent manners during vehicle-to-vehicle
collisions, accidents, drunken driving etc.
2. ROUTING PROTOCOLS
A routing protocol determines the appropriate path over which data is transmitted in a
network for communication[2].
Routing protocol can be classified based on network structure as:
1. Flat routing
2. Hierarchical routing
3. Geographic position assisted routing
Routing protocol can be classified based on routing strategies as:
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
Proactive routing
Reactive routing
Hybrid routing
Flow-oriented routing
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3. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-6367(Print),
ISSN 0976 - 6375(Online), Volume 4, Issue 5, September - October (2013), © IAEME
2.1 Proactive routing
Proactive protocols are also called as Table- driven protocol, because each node in the
network maintains routing tables which contains fresh lists of destinations and their route
information. Whenever a new node is removed or added in the network, control messages are sent to
the neighbouring nodes and then they update their routing tables. This protocol is suitable for small
networks. Ex. OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing)
The major disadvantages of such protocol are:
• More overhead and more consumption of bandwidth.
• Slow reaction on restructuring and failures [6,7].
2.2 Reactive routing
Reactive protocols are also called as on-demand protocol, because in this route between
source and destination is found when there is need. Whenever there is demand, this routing protocol
initiate route discovery, to find the route to the destination. Then it is used for further
communication. This approach is suitable when the network is static and traffic is very low. Ex.
AODV (Ad hoc on-demand distance vector).The major disadvantages of such protocol are:
• High latency time in finding route.
• Heavy traffic can lead to network clogging [6,7].
2.3 Hybrid protocol
Hybrid routing protocol consists of advantages of both proactive and reactive routing
protocols. The routing is initially established with proactive routing protocol, because initially nodes
have tables and then serves the demand from additionally activated nodes by starting route
discovery, i.e., reactive routing protocol. It balances the delay and control overhead in terms of
control packages. Ex. ZRP (Zone routing protocol).
The major disadvantages of this protocol are:
•
•
The node with high level topology information requires more memory and power
consumption (as they maintain more routing information).
Complexity of organizing the network according to network parameters [6,8].
2.4 Flow-oriented routing
Flow-oriented routing protocol finds a route on demand by following present flows in the
network. Routing in this can be done by sending data from one node to other node consecutively
which leads to a new link. The main disadvantages of such algorithms are:
•
Without prior knowledge route exploration takes a long time [7].
3. FACTORS OF ROUTING PROTOCOL DESIGN
3.1 Reach-ability
It is the most basic requirement of routing algorithm which specifies the ability of routing
algorithm to find at least one path from source node to destination node. The path is regardless of
being the optimal in terms of number of hops, energy consumption, etc.
3.2 Location aided routing
In a conventional routing algorithm data is flooded across the node which requires high
bandwidth and high energy. Lee et al. proposed routing algorithm which utilizes GPS (Global
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4. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-6367(Print),
ISSN 0976 - 6375(Online), Volume 4, Issue 5, September - October (2013), © IAEME
Positioning System) information and provides a cost effective approach to obtain real-time node
location information. For example, when a mobile device sends a packet then it can utilize the
location information of neighbouring mobile devices to select the next hop nodes that are to be sent
the packet as specified by the particular location aided MANET routing algorithm [9].
3.3 Energy efficient routing
Power efficiency is one of the most important goals for MANET routing algorithm because
when energy decreases, a point is reached where transmission and connection drops and packets are
lost. An improved energy efficient algorithm is introduced by using a balanced load routing
approach, which says, if one node is constantly receiving and transmitting packets then the node
tends to use more power than the idle nodes. To overcome this packet transmission is spread along
nodes in the transmission path and it will reduce battery utilisation [9].
3.4 Transmission reliability
Transmission reliability is the key challenge for the commercially deployed MANETS. In a
routing algorithm these days, additional reliability is achieved by packet receipt acknowledgement
notification. When this notification not received by the source node within the specified time then the
source node will re-transmit the data packets [9].
3.5 Effective routing
This is very important requirement of a routing protocol and to achieve this, we need to
successfully discover and deliver the packet from the source to the destination. Some measures for
effective routing include:
•
•
Packet delivery ratio: it is ratio of data packets delivered to the packets that are generated by
source node.
Routing overhead: it is the ratio of total number of routing packets to the data packets.
4. CONCLUSION
The study presented in this paper gives MANET routing protocols and the major factors for
designing of algorithms. These factors give an optimal algorithm.
Further study can be done to determine more factors of MANET routing algorithm design.
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