Comparison of Proposed Ospf Manet Extensions

Abstract

The open shortest path first (OSPF) routing protocol performs inefficiently when operated over certain types of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), such as those formed by using IEEE 802.11 ad hoc radios. In 2003, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) OSPF working group solicited proposals to extend OSPFv3 for IPv6 to operate efficiently in MANET environments. During design team consideration, two proposals were developed and discussed: overlapping relays with smart peering (OR/SP) and MANET designated routers (MDRs). The two proposals both reduce OSPF overhead using similar ideas, but there are a few key differences. In this paper, we compare the design and operation of these two proposals, and use a simulation-based study to isolate several performance characteristics. Using the results of this comparison, we explain why we consider MDRs to be more suitable than OR/SP for OSPF in MANET environments