Mobility models, broadcasting methods and factors contributing towards the efficiency of the MANET routing protocols: Overview

In the future, mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) are expected to be deployed in various scenarios having complex node mobility and connectivity dynamics. For example, on a battlefield, the movement of the soldiers (the nodes) is influenced by the commander and in a city, the nodes movement is controlled by the maps or boundaries. Widely varying mobility characteristics are expected to have a significant impact on the performance of the routing protocols in ad hoc networks. This paper gives a review on the mobility models used in MANET. It also describes the metrics used for performance measures via simulations and the state-of-the-art broadcasting techniques used in the mobile ad hoc networks.