Performance evaluation of routing protocols with variation in node speed for mobile ad-hoc networks

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET) holds the promise of the future, with the capability of self-configuration at any place and at any time, without the need of any pre-existing infrastructure. One of the important characteristics of these networks is the node mobility, which will change the network topology very frequently, hence making the network dynamic. Thus achieving an efficient routing protocol with frequent mobility becomes a challenging issue in MANETs. In this paper, we analyze the effect of mobility on different routing protocols using QualNet Simulator. The mobility model for nodes is being captured by Random Waypoint Mobility Model (RWP). The performance of AODV, DSR, ZRP, FSR, LANMAR & OLSR are compared and analyzed with variation in node speed. The metrics used for the performance evaluation include packet delivery ratio, average jitter, throughput and average end-to-end delay. Experimental results illustrate that performance of the routing protocol varies with variation in node speed.