Comprehensive Evaluation of AODV, DSR, GRP, OLSR and TORA Routing Protocols with varying number of nodes and traffic applications over MANETs

Wireless Technology is at its peak when we talk about research and innovation. This field has become a hub of invention of new theories and structures. Mobile Ad-hoc Network is a special point of focus for the researchers. MANET is a collection of wireless mobile nodes which forms a dynamic temporary network without using any existing infrastructure. In recent time the market of mobile devices, laptops, hand held and portable devices is at its zenith so communication between such devices is an important issue. Routing is an essential part in the success of communication among these mobile structures. Routing protocols play an important role for finding an efficient and reliable route from source to destination. In the literature, there are numerous MANET routing protocols aiming to find the most suitable path from source to destination. In this paper, a comprehensive simulation based performance study and analysis is performed on various types of routing protocols over MANET. Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Temporally-Ordered Routing Algorithm (TORA), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) and Geographic Routing Protocol (GRP) has been considered for investigation in this paper based on OPNET simulation. Moreover the performance of these routing protocols will be measured on the basis of throughput, delay, load and data dropped metrics.