What is an Ad Hoc network - What is Ad-hoc routing protocols

Ad hoc networks are the networks which directly connects one computer to another without using any router or hubs. That means in an AD-Hoc network there is no base station to control and coordinate the packet flow. In Ad Hoc network packets are flowing from one computer to another directly.Ad hoc wireless networks work more like walkie-talkies, because the computers communicate directly with each other without any third party devices.


The basic structure of an Ad Hoc network is :

Computer 1<---------> Computer 2


The term ad hoc is mainly used in wireless networking. In wireless networking there are two types of networks.

1. Wireless Infrastructure mode

2. Wireless ad hoc mode

Wireless infrastructure networks works with the help of wireless routers where wireless ad-hoc is not using any wireless router or Access Point.


There are some protocols which supports Ad Hoc networks. That protocols are called Ad-Hoc routing protocols.

Duty of Ad Hoc routing protocols


Unlike other networks ,which uses router as a base station , a new computer in ad-hoc network should announce itself to others. The Ad Hoc routing protocols helps to automate the process. In Wikipedia we can see a list of ad-hoc network routing protocols. The major ad-hoc routing protocol types are Pro-active routing, Reactive routing,Flow oriented routing,Adaptive routing and Hybrid routing. Some of the important ad-hoc network routing protocols are provided below.


1. Ad-hoc Wireless Distribution Service (AWDS)

AWDS is a Layer 2 wireless mesh routing protocol works in the Pro-active routing technology.


2. Clusterhead Gateway Switch Routing protocol (CGSR)

This is also a protocols which works in Pro-active routing technology.

3. Multirate Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector Routing Protocol

It works in reactive routing technology.


4. Hybrid Routing Protocol for Large Scale Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (HRPLS)

This protocol is used for Large Scale Mobile Ad Hoc Networks with Mobile Backbones.


5. Hybrid Ad Hoc Routing Protocol



The actual capacity and maximum allowed number of nodes for an ad-hoc network


It will be really interesting to check the actual capacity of Ad-hoc networks. There is paper work done for checking the actual capacity of an ad-hoc network. To Check the capacity of an ad-hoc network click on the link below.

http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/papers/grid:mobicom01/paper.pdf


New Topics