Simulation of Ad Hoc Routing Protocols using OMNeT++ - A Case Study for the DYMO Protocol

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) have evolved in the last years into standards in the communication world. By definition, they do not need any network infrastructure to facilitate communication between participating nodes. Therefore, MANETs are dealing with new challenges in the context of ad hoc routing. Simulation techniques are one of the fundamental methodologies to support the protocol engineering process, especially in the early stages of ad hoc network protocol design. In this paper, we set out common criteria that may serve as guidelines for meaningful simulative evaluations of ad hoc routing protocols. We present typical and necessary measures for ad hoc routing in general and MANET routing in particular. As a case study, we demonstrate a comprehensive performance evaluation of the Dynamic MANET On Demand (DYMO) routing protocol using a model we implemented for the popular OMNeT++ discrete event simulation environment.