International Journal of Computer Science Issues

More than a traditional journal...

MOBILE ad hoc network (MANET)] is a self-organizing and self-configuring multi hop wireless network, which is composed of a set of mobile hosts (MHs) that can move around freely and cooperate in relaying packets on behalf of one another. MANET supports robust and efficient operations by incorporating the routing functionality into MHs. In MANETs, the unicast routing establishes a multi hop forwarding path for two nodes beyond the direct wireless communication range. Routing protocols also maintain connectivity when links on these paths break due to effects such as node movement, battery drainage, radio propagation, and wireless interference .In this paper, we analyze and compare reactive single-path and multi-path routing with load balance mechanisms in ad hoc networks, in terms of overhead. The results reveals that in comparison with general single-path routing protocol, multi-path routing mechanism creates more overheads but provides better performance in congestion and capacity provided that the route length is within a certain upper bound which is derivable. The analytical results are further confirmed by simulation