International Journal of Computer Techniques -– Volume 2 Issue 1, 2015

RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

A Survey on Wireless Routing Protocols (AODV, DSR, DSDV)

Sejal D’Mello1, Priyanka B. Patil2, Tarannum Parveen S. Shaikh3, Heena S. Shaikh4, Shahnawaz M. Malik5
Information technology, Atharva College of Engineering, Mumbai.

----------------------------------------------------------************************************-----------------------------------------------------
Abstract:
Due to rapid advance in communication technology, the current demand is for wireless network than wired
network. Wireless communication technologies have brought in fundamental changes in telecommunication and computer
networking. Wireless networks include MANETS (Mobile ad hoc networks) which is a collection of mobile nodes that
communicate through wireless links and have no fixed topology or central administration. The task of sending packets between
nodes called routing is done in MANET by some routing protocols. During last few years, a variety of different routing
protocols that address multi-hop ad-hoc network have been developed. These protocols have been efficiently designed and their
performances have been evaluated according to different performance parameters. Routing protocols vary according to network
type. Some of the best known protocols are AODV, DSR and DSDV. While AODV and DSR are reactive i.e., they are on-
demand; DSDV is proactive protocol i.e., they are table driven. This paper presents a survey on routing protocols namely
AODV, DSR and DSDV to find the best suited for wireless networks.

Keywords: MANET, AODV, DSR, DSDV

----------------------------------------------------------************************************-----------------------------------------------------

I. INTRODUCTION
Any communication network is either wired or
wireless and many protocols have been designed for it. In
wired networks, communication is done between the nodes
through physical cables. TCP/IP protocol is best suited for the
wired network. In wireless networks, wireless data
connections are used for connecting nodes. There are two
types of wireless network, which are infrastructure networks
and ad-hoc networks .In an infrastructure network, base Fig. 1 Routing Protocols
stations are connected through wires, also called cellular The rest of the paper is organised as follows: Section II gives
network. In an ad hoc network, also called infrastructure less brief description of AODV, Section III gives a description
networks, there is no base station, each mobile node acts as a about DSR, Section IV gives the description of DSDV and
router. The mobile nodes in an ad hoc network randomly finally Section V discusses about the conclusion derived.
move resulting in a dynamic topology [5].
MANET is a wireless mobile ad hoc network having no I. AODV
fixed routers wherein wireless nodes randomly move to form
a network without any decided infrastructure or topology. Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) is a purely
Routing is task of forwarding packets from one node to reactive routing protocol which starts a route discovery
another in a network. Routing in MANET is done for finding process only when it has to send data packets to another
an optimized path between source and destination. MANET neighboring node and has no information about the route to
can be simulated using NS2 simulator. Many efficient routing that particular node. This is called the route discovery process
protocols have been defined for MANETS for providing better in AODV which is “on-demand” i.e., route to destination is
performance. Routing protocols are classified into proactive found only when it is required. AODV makes use of a route
and reactive protocols. In proactive protocols, the route is pre- discovery algorithm which is done in broadcast fashion for
decided in a routing table while sending packets from source finding the route. The destination node then sends a route
to destination. Examples are DSDV (Destination Sequence reply message to the source node in a unicast way [4]. AODV
Distance Vector) and OLSR (Optimised Link State Routing) uses sequence numbers which are maintained at each
protocol. In reactive protocols, routing is done on demand that destination node in order to determine freshness of routing
is only when packets are to be sent and there is no pre-decided information and to avoid any routing loops. These sequence
path in routing table. Examples are DSR (Distance Source numbers are carried by all the routing packets [1]. Ad-hoc On-
Routing) and AODV (Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector) demand distance vector (AODV) makes use of traditional
protocol. routing tables, one route entry per destination that the node is
communicating with.
 International Journal of Computer Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 1, 2015

It does not have to periodically exchange route information the source node. In case if the link is affected by any break,
with the neighbouring nodes. In AODV, each node maintains then a RERR message is generated and broadcasted. After
a route table for the destination node. A route table contains receiving the RERR message, the source node generates a new
the following information: active neighbours for the RREQ message and broadcasts it [3].
route ,destination address and its sequence number, hop count
to the destination, and expiration time for the table which is
updated each time the route is used[7]. For a specified period
of time, if the route is not used, then it is discarded.

Each route entry keeps track of the following fields:

i. IP Address: The IP address of the destination node to which
the packets has to be sent.
ii. Destination sequence number: The sequence number of the
destination node.
iii. Next Hop: The next intermediate node to which the
packets are to be forwarded.
iv. Hop Count: The number of nodes between the source and
the destination.
v. Lifetime: The time in milliseconds for which nodes
receiving the RREP message.
vi. Routing flags: The state of the route which can be valid or
invalid. [5]

AODV routing allows mobile nodes to respond to the link

breakages and changes in network topology in a timely
manner. The main objectives of the protocol is quickly adapt
to the changes on the network links. Control messages used in
AODV are:
• Route Request Message (RREQ)
• Route Reply Message (RREP)
• Route Error Message (RERR)
• Route Reply Acknowledgment (RREP-ACK)
Message
• HELLO Messages [8]

A. Working of AODV

The AODV protocol consists of following two main

processes:

1) Route discovery:
Whenever the source node has to send data packets to the
destination node, the source node broadcast a RREQ message
to all the neighbouring nodes. This message is then forwarded
to all the intermediate nodes till it reaches the desired
destination node. If the destination is found, it replies back
with a RREP message and hence a route is established
between the source and destination. A Hello message
indicates presence of the nodes, if not received from particular
node then the neighbouring node can assume that the node has
moved away[6].
2) Route Maintenance:
A route that has been discovered between a source node and
destination node is maintained only as long as it is needed by

ISSN: 2394-2231 http://www.ijctjournal.org Page 101

 International Journal of Computer Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 1, 2015

protocol which is based on source routing. Source routing

means that the source nodes have complete information about
hop sequences to the destination[5].Also each node maintain
route caches DSR allows self-organising and self -configuring
networks according to topological changes without any central
administration There are mainly two “on-demand”
mechanisms in DSR protocol:- Route discovery and Route
maintenance. These mechanisms work together in an ad hoc
network to allow the discovery and maintenance of source
routes and are requested only when the two nodes have to
send packets to each other [6], [7].

In the source routing technique, the source decides the

complete hop sequence of intermediate nodes through which
to forward the packets to the destination. This information
about the intermediate nodes is stored in the packet header. In
DSR, each node in the network maintains a route cache where
it stores all the source routes information that it has known.
When a node has to send data packets to another node, it first
finds a route by checking its own route cache. The route
discovery process is started only when the desired route is not
found in route cache. This is done by sending Route request
message .If the nodes have not received the messages or their
addresses are not present in route cache, then the nodes
processes only the required route request message to limit the
number of route requests sent [5], [7].

A. Working

The DSR protocol consists of following two processes:

Fig. 2 AODV Algorithm 1) Route Discovery: When a source node wants to send data
packets to the destination node, it finds a route to the
Advantages
destination. This process is used only when source node wants
In AODV routing protocol there is no central
to communicate with destination and has no path information
administration system to control the routing process. Reactive
to the destination. This is called Route Discovery process.
protocols like AODV tend to reduce the control traffic
2) Route Maintenance: The pre-decided routes are not used in
messages. AODV dynamically updates according to the
case of network topological changes. In this case, the source
changes in network topology. The AODV protocol reduces
nodes generate another route to the destination or else start the
storage and energy consumption.
route discovery process again. This is called Route
Maintenance. Route maintenance basically handles breaks in
C. Disadvantages
route. In case of transmission errors, it generates route error
AODV gathers limited amount of routing information and
messages [6], [9].
route learning is limited only to the source of any routing
packets being forwarded. These causes AODV to rely on a
B. Advantages
route discovery flood .Uncontrolled flooding may cause the
DSR can easily handle load balancing by allowing multiple
broadcast storm problem. The performance of the AODV
routes to any destination. DSR leads to increased robustness.
protocol is poor in larger networks and also AODV is
Another advantage is that intermediate nodes can learn about
vulnerable to various kinds of attacks in network [2].
the routes from the source through the packets they receive.
Source routing avoids the need for updating routing
information in the intermediate nodes .Also it avoids routing
III. DSR loops as complete routes are determined by a single node.
The Dynamic Source Routing protocol (DSR) is a Also in situations wherein mobility is low, DSR reduces
simple and efficient routing protocol used in multi-hop bandwidth consumption. DSR supports rapid rates of mobility
wireless ad hoc networks of mobile nodes [9].The DSR [8].
protocol is a reactive In routing protocol which means it
requests routes only when needed. It is an on-demand routing

ISSN: 2394-2231 http://www.ijctjournal.org Page 102

 International Journal of Computer Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 1, 2015

C) Disadvantages
As DSR makes use of source routing in which source Destination Next Number Sequence Install
determines complete address to the destination which is stored Hop Of Hops Number Time
in each packet headers. As a result every packet has to carry a
routing overhead. Also finding routes in DSR is a costly in A A 0 A46 001000
terms of time, bandwidth and energy [5].
B B 1 B36 001200

C C 2 C28 001500

IV. DSDV
Naturally the table contains description of all possible paths
Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector Routing protocol reachable by node A, along with the next hop, number of hops
(DSDV) is one of the proactive protocols in demand. It is a and sequence number. The list which is maintained is called
typical Table-Driven Routing Protocol, which is based on routing table. The routing table contains the following:
Bellman-Ford routing mechanism [10]. DSDV is one of the
earliest routing protocols proposed and provides a baseline (1) All available destinations’ IP address
proactive distance vector algorithm for performance (2) Next hop IP address
comparison. MANET contains number of nodes and each (3) Number of hops to reach the destination
node maintains a routing table which has a list of all known (4) Sequence number assigned by the destination node
destination nodes within the given network and with number (5) Install time
of hops which are required to reach particular node. In DSDV,
each route is marked with a sequence number which is The sequence number is used to distinguish stale routes
originated by the destination itself which indicates how old from new ones and thus avoid the formation of loops. The
the route is. stations periodically transmit their routing tables to their
Each node has unique sequence number, this is done by immediate neighbours. A station also transmits its routing
assigning two greater than the old one (i.e. an even sequence table if a significant change has occurred in its table from the
number) every time. As soon as the route update with a higher last update sent. So, the update is both time-driven and event-
sequence number is received, the old route is replaced. These driven. It has few drawbacks which are been corrected such as
numbers are generated by the emitter and the emitter needs to (reconstruction of broken or invalid routes, freedom from loop
send out the next update with this number. It uses Full dump in routing table and less convergence time.
or Incremental update to reduce network traffic generated by
route updates. The broadcast of route updates is delayed by The process flow from the source to destination is shown
settling time [11]. below in Fig. 3.The figure shows how Host ‘A ‘creates a
Updates are transmitted periodically when there is any provisional route to destination ‘T’ when the intermediate link
change in the network topology. If there are different route from ‘A’ to ‘B’ breaks [4]. Host ‘A’ then broadcasts ROUTE-
with same sequence number, the route with better metric is REQUEST packets to its intermediate one hop neighbours.
used with the most recently updated time. Stale entries are After getting the request the Adhoc hosts C, E, I, G then
those entries that have not been updated for a while. Such responds with ROUTE-ACK packets which have hop count
entries as well as the routes using those nodes as next hops are and the Route update time to the Adhoc host ‘A’. Host A then
deleted[11], [12].While DSDV itself does not appear to be resumes sending packets to the destination node T after
much used today, Babel is an attempt at making DSDV more selecting the lowest Hop count metric and the path which has
robust, more efficient and more widely applicable while most recent routing update time. Later as any Adhoc host
staying within the framework of proactive protocol moves in the range of host A then the routing table of host A
gets updated by regular DSDV routing process. After which
A. Working the updated route is taken for forwarding the packet to the
destination host T [4].

For example the routing table of Node A in this network is:

ISSN: 2394-2231 http://www.ijctjournal.org Page 103

 International Journal of Computer Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 1, 2015
7 Periodic Yes No Yes
Broadcast

8 Dropped Highest Least Acceptable

Packets

9 Received Most Least Average

Packets
Consistency

10 Jitter Average Low High

Performance

11 Throughput Most Average Least

B. Advantages
12 Energy Average Most Least
DSDV is a loop free routing protocol which is distributed in
nature. Also routes are maintained in route table. DSDV is
13 Latency Yes Yes No
computationally more efficient i.e. it requires less resource as
compared to other routing protocols.
14 Overhead Less Less Yes
C. Disadvantages
15 Effectiveness Less Comput Computati
DSDV overhead increases as the node density increases. Comput ation onally
DSDV requires a regular update of its routing tables, which ation Intensiv More
uses up battery power and a small amount of bandwidth even Intensiv e Efficient
when the network is idle. Whenever the topology of the e
network changes, a new sequence number is necessary before
the network re-converges; thus, DSDV is not suitable for

highly dynamic or large scale networks. There is low delivery

ratio in DSDV due to fact it uses stale routes in case of broken
links, existence of stale route doesn’t mean that there is no
valid route available to destination. The packets can be VI. Conclusion
forwarded through other neighbors who have route to the
destination This paper presents a survey on the three routing protocols
namely AODV, DSR and DSDV to find the best suited for
V. COMPARISON OF AODV, DSR, DSDV wireless network. Different papers were reviewed and
comparative analysis on the protocols was done. In this paper
Table 2
a brief description and working of all the three protocols is
Comparison of Routing Protocols given. It is seen that each protocol have their own merits and
Sr Parameters AODV DSR DSDV demerits. Hence, this paper concludes that the AODV protocol
no performs better than DSR and DSDV with respect to many
performance parameters.
1 Protocol Reactive Reactive Proactive
Types
References
2 Routes Route Route Route
Maintained in Table Cache Table [1] Nilesh P. Bobade, Nitiket N. Mhala , “Performance
Evaluation of Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector in
3 Route Cache No Yes No MANETs with varying Network Size using NS-2 Simulation,”
(IJCSE) International Journal on Computer Science and
4 Distributed Yes Yes Yes Engineering,Vol. 02, No. 08, 2010, 2731-2735.
[2] Prashant Kumar Maurya, Gaurav Sharma, VaishaliSahu,
5 Multicast Yes No No Ashish Roberts, Mahendra Srivastava , “An Overview of
AODV Routing Protocol ” ,International Journal of Modern
6 Unidirectional No Yes No Engineering Research (IJMER),Vol.2, Issue.3, May-June
Link Support
2012, pp-728-732, ISSN: 2249-6645.

ISSN: 2394-2231 http://www.ijctjournal.org Page 104

 International Journal of Computer Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 1, 2015
[3] Patil V.P, “Efficient AODV Routing Protocol for
MANET with enhanced packet delivery ratio and minimized
end to end delay,”International Journal of Scientific and
Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 8, August 2012 ,ISSN
2250-3153.
[4] Prof.S.P.Setty, Narasimha Raju K, Naresh Kumar K,
“PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AODV IN
DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS,” International Journal of
Engineering Science and Technology,Vol. 2(7), 2010, 2976-
2981.
[5]Satveer Kaur, “Performance Comparison of DSR and
AODV Routing Protocols with Efficient Mobility Model in
Mobile Ad-Hoc Network,” IJCST Vol. 2, Issue 2, June 2011.
[6] RajeshDeshmukh,AshaAmbhaikar, “Performance
Evaluation of AODV and DSR with Reference to Network
Size,” International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 –
8887) ,Volume 11– No.8, December 2010.
[7] V.K.Taksande,Dr.K.D.Kulat, “ Performance Comparison
of DSDV, DSR, AODV Protocol with IEEE 802.11 MAC for
Chain Topology for Mobile Ad-hoc Network using NS-2,”
IJCA Special Issue on “2nd National Conference- Computing,
Communication and Sensor Network” CCSN, 2011.
[8] AnkurLal, Dr.Sipi Dubey, Mr.BharatPesswani, “
Reliability of MANET through the Performance Evaluation of
AODV, DSDV, DSR,”
International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer
Science and Software Engineering,Volume 2, Issue 5, May
2012,ISSN: 2277 128.
[9] G. Jose Moses, D. Sunil Kumar Prof.P.Suresh Varma
N.Supriya, “
A Simulation Based Study of AODV, DSR, DSDV Routing
Protocols in MANET Using NS-2,” International Journal of
Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software
Engineering, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2012 ISSN: 2277
128X .
[10] Arun Kumar B. R., Lokanatha C. Reddy, Prakash S.
Hiremath, “Performance Comparison of Wireless Mobile Ad-
Hoc Network Routing Protocols,” IJCSNS International
Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, VOL.8
No.6, June 2008.
[11] Abdul Hadi AbdRahman ,Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain,
“Performance Comparison of AODV, DSDV and I-DSDV
Routing Protocols in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks,” European
Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.31 No.4
(2009), pp.566-576.
[12] Amith Khandakar, “Step by Step Procedural Comparison
of DSR, AODV and DSDV Routing protocol,” 2012 4th
International Conference on Computer Engineering and
Technology (ICCE 2012) IPCSIT vol.40 (2012).

ISSN: 2394-2231 http://www.ijctjournal.org Page 105