Routing HTTP traffic in a mobile ad hoc network

TCP performance is a critical factor in the successful deployment of HTTP-based applications in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). In this study, we evaluate a sender-based heuristic, which has been shown to improve performance for large FTP file transfers, for HTTP traffic loads. Using the ns-2 simulator, we examine the impact of the proposed technique on the HTTP performance of three on-demand (AODV and DSR) and adaptive proactive (ADV) routing protocols. Our results show that the sender-side heuristic yields higher HTTP performance for the two on-demand algorithms; for the proactive ADV, the improvements are not as significant. Furthermore, ADV performs well compared to AODV and DSR in terms of service time and throughput.