Topology Control for Ad-Hoc Networks: A Comprehensive Review for Table Driven and On-Demand Routing Protocols

Routing on ad-hoc network has become a major research issue among the networking communities due to its increasing complexity and the surge of challenging problems. One major factor contributing to this tendency is that every terminal of an ad-hoc network is also functioning as a network router. In this paper we provide a comprehensive review about the principles and mechanisms of routing protocols used in ad-hoc networks. For comparison purposes, we discuss some relevant technical issues of two well-known routing strategies, namely On-Demand (Proactive routing) and Table-Driven (Reactive routing). In particular, focus our attention on two major and well-known routing protocols: AODV (Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Protocol) and OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing Protocol). Our study has no intention to suggest any definite solution for any ad-hoc network, because it is the case depending on dictated by the nature and varying factors of networks. Instead, we demonstrate our major perception and describe general models that may assist us while modeling a given network.