Analysis of variable mobility rate, nodes and transmission range on ad hoc routing protocols

Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) consists of mobile devices that are equipped with battery power and most of the power consumed in a node is due to transmission. In order to utilize this energy equipped devices efficiently for transmission of data packets, many energy aware routing strategies are suggested and implemented. Effective transmission power control is a critical issue in the design and performance of wireless ad hoc networks. Today, the design of packet radios and protocols for wireless ad hoc networks are primarily based on common-range transmission control. Mobility speed of the nodes and extension of ad hoc network largely affects the performance. In this paper, the performance of Proactive (DSDV), Reactive (DSR, AODV) and Hybrid routing protocol (ZRP) with varying transmission range, mobility rate and number of nodes is analyzed. The performance metrics considered in the study are packet delivery ratio, end to end delay, routing overhead and average throughput.