A wireless ad hoc protocols comparison study: DSR, AODV and IWAR

Wireless ad hoc networks are relatively new and are gaining ground in research due to promises they offer. Wireless ad hoc networks do not require predefined configuration and have no fixed infrastructure. They are self-organizing and self-configuring networks. Several protocols have been developed that vary in the performance and complexity. Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) is a well-known pure on-demand protocol. It is a simple protocol and it was designed to have low overhead. But it does not select the optimal routes all the times. Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance-Vector (AODV) protocol is a wireless ad hoc protocol that makes its routing decision based on the distance vector. The Intelligent Wireless Ad hoc Routing (IWAR) is newly introduced protocol that it is also dynamic on-demand protocol. It implements more complex algorithm to select optimal routes and provide load balancing. This paper describes the DSR and AODV protocols, presents the design of the IWAR protocol, and compares the complexity, optimality, overhead traffic and fault tolerance of these protocols.