DSDV Extension to Enhance the Performance of Ad Hoc Networks in High Diverse-Velocity Environments

Abstract

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs) are characterized as decentralized control networks. The mobile nodes route and forward data based on their routing information without the need for routing devices. In this type of networks, nodes move in an unstructured environment where some nodes are still fixed, others are moving in a constant velocity, and others move with diverse velocities; and thus, they need special protocols to keep track of network changes and velocity changes among the nodes. Destination Sequenced Distance-Vector (DSDV) routing protocol is one of the most popular proactive routing protocols for wireless networks. This protocol has a good performance in general, but with high speed nodes and congested networks its performance degrades quickly.

In this paper we propose an extension to the DSDV (we call it Diverse-Velocity DSDV) to address this problem. The main idea is to modify the protocol to include node speed, determine update intervals and the duration of settling time. To evaluate the performance of the new protocol, we have carried a number of simulation scenarios using the Network Simulator tool (NS-3) and measured relevant parameters such as: packet delivery ratio, throughput, end-to-end delay, and routing overhead. We have compared our results with the original DSDV and some of its new variants. The new protocol has demonstrated a noticeable improvement of performance in all scenarios, and the measured performance metrics outperform the others except the average delay where the performance of the new protocol was modest.