Complex Network Analysis of the Relationship Between Reactive Routing and MANET Performance

Reactive routing protocols of MANETs create routing tables whose paths can be represented by a routing network, i.e. the network of links created from routing tables that can change over time. These links are created and destroyed according to the mobile behavior of nodes. Different topologies of the routing network impact the performance of a MANET measured by typical indicators such as PDR (Packet Delivery Rate) and E2E (End-to-End) delay. This work aims at investigating the relationship between the routing network and MANET performance indicators. It is accomplished by representing the routing network as a complex network which is characterized by metrics such as average degree, density and clustering coefficient. The evaluation of a MANET is implemented using OMNeT++, and the Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol. The results present the performance indicators and complex network metrics for different speed and number of nodes as well as their correlations. They show a strong negative correlation between PDR and both density and clustering coefficient. However, a strong positive correlation between E2E delay and degree, density and clustering coefficient is observed.