A SURVEY OF ROUTING PROTOCOLS IN MOBILE AD HOC NETWORKS

Abstract

This survey explores routing protocols in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). MANET is a network consisting of a group of portable devices which communicates with each other without any dedicated infrastructure. Mobile nodes move in the network freely therefore there is no any fixed topology. MANET protocols are broadly classified into two types i.e. Proactive and reactive. In reactive routing protocols, route discovery process is used to search a route between source and destination. Broadcasting mechanism is used for route discovery, where each node sends a received route request packet to other nodes in the network until it finds a path to the destination. Broadcasting causes many problems such as redundant retransmissions, collisions and contentions. This paper provides an overview of routing protocols which can overcome broadcast storm problem, reduce routing overhead and improve the routing performance.