Performance evaluation of AODV & DSR for wireless sensor networks

This paper evaluates the performance of two prominent on-demand routing protocols, which are Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing (AODV) for wireless sensor networks. Results obtained from simulations demonstrates that even though DSR and AODV share a similar on-demand behavior, the differences in the protocol mechanics can lead to significant performance differentials. The performance differentials are analyzed using varying network load and network size. Tiny Operating System (TinyOS) is used as a platform for simulating AODV & DSR under various conditions. TinyOS is free software and is designed specially for wireless sensor networks. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are characterized by multi-hop wireless connectivity, frequently changing network topology and the need for efficient dynamic routing protocols.