A study of dynamic addressing techniques in mobile ad hoc networks

Dynamic address assignment enables nodes in mobile ad hoc networks to obtain a routable address without the need for any explicit configuration. It provides a means for nodes to communicate without any centralized infrastructure and provides a mechanism for dynamic network membership. Recently, a considerable number of dynamic addressing protocols have been proposed. While these approaches bear some similarities to each other, they also differ in some important characteristics. To understand the benefits of these different approaches, it is necessary to test the protocols in a wide range of network conditions so that their performance and suitability can be predicted. This paper studies existing solutions by categorizing and qualitatively analyzing the scalability and other performance properties of the approaches. We also introduce a new addressing approach that provides both quick and efficient unique address assignment. We then compare selected protocols through quantitative analysis based on extensive simulations. Based on the simulation results, we point out the applicability of the protocols and offer suggestions to improve protocol performance. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.