NS-2 based wireless vehicular network performance study with high speed urban mobile relays

Wireless networks using mobile relays are widely used by urban vehicles, where throughputs and transmission delays are critically performance metrics. Even though there are several wireless routing protocols, the proper data forwarding algorithm should be carefully selected based on their characteristic in various situations. This paper provides extensive NS-2 based performance evaluation of three essential wireless data forwarding algorithms used in popular Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET): Ad hoc on Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR). We investigate throughputs, packet drop rate, and transmission delay with various numbers of mobile nodes and realistic mobility models, and provide a useful reference guideline to determine the best wireless data forwarding protocol for vehicles in urban areas. According to our performance study, AODV is the most effective algorithm in terms of throughput and data transmission delay for mobile environments.