Impact of Directional Antennas on Ad Hoc Routing

Previous research on directional antennas has been confined mostly to medium access control. However, it is necessary to evaluate the impact of directional antennas on the performance of routing protocols as well. In this paper, we identify the issues and evaluate the performance of an omnidirectional routing protocol, DSR, when executed over directional antennas. Using insights gained from simulations, we propose routing strategies suitable for directional communication. Our analysis shows that by using directional antennas, ad hoc networks may achieve better performance. However, scenarios exist in which omnidirectional antennas may be suitable.

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