Simulation-Based Routing Protocol Performance Analysis - A Case Study

In this paper we evaluate the enhanced interior gateway routing protocol (EIGRP) via packet simulations. EIGRP, an intra-domain routing protocol developed by Cisco, is mainly based on the diffusing update algorithm (DUAL) which computes shortest paths distributedly without creating routing-table loops or incurring counting-to-infinity problem. Previous studies showed EIGRP's ability to adapt quickly to routing changes in medium-scale networks. In our research, we developed a detailed simulation model of EIGRP (publicly available), and we used it to evaluate EIGRP performance under a very dynamic network. Our results showed that EIGRP converges faster than a single TCP timeout in most cases. The simulated network was a composite of wired and wireless hosts, and the results hold for both types of media. In addition, the study showed a feasible approach for seamless mobility and continuous connectivity for users of mobile wireless devices as they move within an autonomous system (AS)