Traffic pattern based performance comparison of two reactive routing protocols for Ad hoc networks using NS2

Ad hoc networks are characterized by wireless connectivity, continuous changing topology, distributed operations and ease of deployment. Routing in Ad hoc networks is a challenge due to mobility and thus is a current area of research. We compare two reactive routing protocols by considering multiple performance metrics to bring out their relative merits. Both DSR and AODV share similar on demand behavior, but the protocols internal mechanism leads to significant performance differences. We have analyzed the performance of protocols by varying network load, mobility and type of traffic (CBR, TCP). A detailed simulation has been done using NS2. We consider packet delivery fraction, normalized routing load, average delay, routing overhead, and packet loss as metrics for performance analysis of these protocols.