Impact of Varying Node Mobility on Performance of Mobile Ad hoc Networks

A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile nodes forming a temporary network without using any existing infrastructure. Two mobility models Random Waypoint and Group mobility are commonly used in MANET scenario. In this paper, the effects of various mobility models on the performance of three routing protocols Bellman Ford, Adhoc On Demand Distance Vector(AODV) and Zone Routing Protocol(ZRP) have been studied. For experiment purposes, two mobility scenarios: Random Waypoint, Group Mobility have been considered. These two Mobility Models are selected to represent possibility of practical application in future. Performance comparison has also been conducted across varying node mobility. Experiment results illustrate that performance of the routing protocol varies across different mobility models and mobility. Results show that the protocol performance may vary drastically across mobility models and performance rankings of protocols may vary with the mobility models used.