An Analytical Comparison of Factors Affecting the Performance of Ad Hoc Network

In this paper an analytical model is proposed to investigate and quantify the effects and interactions of node mobility, network size and traffic load on the performance of ad hoc networks using AODV in terms of cost, average end-to-end delay and throughput. The analytical results reveal that contrary to the traditional concept, performance of ad hoc networks is much more sensitive to traffic load and network size than to node mobility. The capacity of ad hoc networks relies on the collective impact of all three factors but not any one alone. Furthermore, NS-2 based simulations are carried out to verify the theoretical model.