Tuning the parameters of E-TDMA MAC for an efficient multipath-AODV over wireless ad hoc networks

On-demand routing has been widely developed in bandwidth constrained ad hoc networks because of its effectiveness and efficiency. MANET nodes are typically distinguished by their limited power, processing and memory resources as well as a high degree of mobility. We specifically examine the issues of multipath routing in MANETs. Multiple paths can provide load balancing, fault-tolerance and higher aggregate bandwidth. Due to issues at the link-layer, using multiple paths in an ad hoc network to achieve higher bandwidth may not be as straightforward as in a wired network. Transmissions from a node along one path may interfere with transmissions from a node along another path, thereby limiting the achievable throughput. We consider a very well-known multipath protocol, the ad hoc on-demand multipath distance vector (AOMDV) routing protocol. Also, we consider a new TDMA MAC protocol called evolutionary-TDMA. This algorithm computes alternate route loop-free and node-disjoint paths. We evaluate the performance of AOMDV, varying the parameters of this last algorithm to understand how the performances of a multipath algorithm are tied to the lower layer. The performance comparisons have been realized with ns-2.