Routing in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

The main characteristic of an ad hoc network, which has opened up the entire spectrum of its application, is that the network is ‘infrastructureless’. Hence, it is the most preferred type of network in a disaster‐hit area. The characteristics that make an ad hoc network different from the traditional networks lead to a different set of requirements in wireless ad hoc routing protocols. This chapter focuses on the different types of protocols that exist, namely, table‐driven routing protocols, on‐demand routing protocols, geographic routing protocols, and power‐aware routing protocols. Mobility is the prime factor driving the wireless ad hoc protocols. The hybrid routing protocols are designed to maximize the advantages of the proactive routing protocols and the reactive routing protocols. Hierarchical routing protocols enable high scalability of the ad hoc networks. As the number of nodes increases in a mobile ad hoc network, it increases the memory requirement for storing the routing table.