Comparison of reactive and proactive routing protocols for different mobility conditions in WSN

Abstract

Ad hoc networks prove to be challenging networks for communication due to its resource constrained nature and frequent changes in the network topology. Though a lot of research has been going on in the various parts of the world for optimization of communications in the ad hoc networks. The application spectrum of ad hoc networks includes commercial, public safety applications and military sector. The erratic size of the network and its exotic topology pose a magnificent challenge to the routing algorithms used in such networks. The present paper offers an analysis of two or the reactive as well as proactive protocols used in the ad hoc networks. The analytical study has been performed for four different scenario conditions. All the four conditions are implemented on the battle field monitoring using the ad hoc networks. In this paper we present a comparison of the performance of reactive and proactive protocols for different mobility conditions in wireless sensor networks. The sensor network simulator architecture used is for battle field monitoring and provides support for sensing capabilities in network nodes. The mobile nodes collect data from battle field and send it to the base station. The performance of the routing protocols varies with the different mobility patterns of the nodes in the network. Power consumption model has been used to faithfully represent an actual sensor hardware and sensor network oriented traffic model.