Quantifying factors affecting quality of service in mobile ad hoc networks

Support for quality of service (QoS) is increasingly important in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) with the emergence of delay-sensitive applications. This article quantifies the impact of factors and their interactions on the performance of real-time flows through statistical analysis of data gathered in simulation. The factors considered include QoS architecture, routing protocol, medium access control (MAC) protocol, mobility model, and offered load. The QoS architectures considered include stateless (Swan), stateful (Insignia), and no support for QoS. For routing, proactive (OLSR) and reactive (DSR, AODV) protocols are considered. The IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) and its QoS-aware extension enhanced DCF (EDCF) are the MAC protocols considered. The authors find that the stateless architecture of Swan better supports QoS than the stateful approach of Insignia or the classic architecture in the two mobility models considered.