Exploration and comparison of several AODV implementations: a survey

Abstract

An ad-hoc network consists of mobile nodes constructing a network that the topology changes dynamically. The Ad-hoc On Demand Distance Vector Routing (AODV) protocol is an algorithm used for the implementation of such networks. The connection between nodes is established for the duration of one session, so no need to have a base station in order to establish such a connection between nodes. Nodes discover other target nodes that are out of range by broadcasting the network with Rout Requests (RREQ) that are forwarded by each node. If the destination node get the RREQ, then it sends back Route Reply (RREP) to the source node. After the route has been discovered between source node and destination node, then it’s the time to start sending data thru that route. This paper is an exploration and comparison of several AODV implementations including: Mad-hoc, AODV-UCSB, AODV-UU, Kernel-AODV and AODV-UIUC. It gives details on how AODV works. In addition, this paper presents a discussion of the advantages as well as disadvantages of each implementation. Also, it explains implementation techniques of the AODV protocol to determine the needed events, such as: Snooping, Kernel Modification, and Netfilter. AODV-UU has been used as a routing agent for mobile nodes in the Network Simulator NS-2. Because of AODV-UU is publicly recommended implementation of AODV and more portable than the other implementations, I choose to install and configure AODV-UU implementation and run it in Network Simulator NS-2.