Mobile Ad hoc Networking (MANET): Routing Protocol Evaluation Considerations

Mobile ad-hoc network is an autonomous system of mobile nodes connected by wireless links; each node operates as an end system and a router for all other nodes in the network. Nodes in mobile ad-hoc network are free to move and organize themselves in an arbitrary fashion. Each user is free to roam about while communication with others. However, the fact that there is no central Infrastructure and that the devices can move randomly gives rise to various kind of problems, such as routing and security. There are several familiar routing protocols like table driven, on- demand, hybrid routing protocols which have been proposed for providing communication among all the nodes in the network. This paper presents Qualitative and Quantitative metrics that can be used to evaluate a routing protocol.