Wireless sensor networks(WSNs) are different to traditional networks and are highly dependent on applications, thus traditional routing protocols cannot be applied efficiently to the networks. As the variability of both the application and the network architecture, the majority of the attention, therefore, has been given to the routing protocols. This work surveys and evaluates state-of-the-art routing protocols based on many factors including energy efficiency, delay andcomplexity, and presents several classifications for the various approaches pursued. Additionally, more attention is paid to several routing protocols and their advantages and disadvantages and, indeed, this work implements two of selected protocols, LEACH and THVRG, on the OPNET, and compares them in many aspects based on a large amount of experimental data. The survey also provides a valuable framework for comparing new and existing routing protocols. According to the evaluation for the performance of the routing protocols, this thesis provides assistance in relation to further improving the performance in relation to routing protocols. Finally, future research strategies and trends in relation to routing technology in wireless sensor networks are also provided.

An ad-hoc network is a packet radio network in which individual mobile nodes perform routing functions. Typically, an ad-hoc networking concept allows users wanting to communicate with each other while forming a temporary network, without any form of centralized administration. Each node participating in the network performs both the host and router function, and willing to forward packets for other nodes. For this purpose a routing protocol is needed. A novel approach utilizes the uniqueness of such a network i. e. distance, location and speed of the nodes, introducing a Distance Routing Effect Algorithm for Mobility (DREAM). The protocol uses the <i>distance effect</i> and the <i>mobility rate</i> as a means to assure routing accuracy. When data needs to be exchanged between two nodes, the directional algorithm sends messages in the recorded direction of the destination node, guaranteeing the delivery by following the direction. The improved algorithm suggested within this thesis project includes an additional parameter, direction of travel, as a means of determining the location of a destination node. When data needs to be exchanged between two nodes, the directional algorithm sends messages in the recorded direction of the destination node, guaranteeing the delivery by following the direction. The end result is an enhancement to the delivery ratio, of the sent to the received packet. This also allows the reduction in the number of control packets that need to be distributed, reducing the overall control overhead of the Improved Dream protocol.

An ad-hoc network is a packet radio network in which individual mobile nodes perform routing functions. Typically, an ad-hoc networking concept allows users wanting to communicate with each other while forming a temporary network, without any form of centralized administration. Each node participating in the network performs both the host and router function, and willing to forward packets for other nodes. For this purpose a routing protocol is needed. A novel approach utilizes the uniqueness of such a network i. e. distance, location and speed of the nodes, introducing a Distance Routing Effect Algorithm for Mobility (DREAM). The protocol uses the <i>distance effect</i> and the <i>mobility rate</i> as a means to assure routing accuracy. When data needs to be exchanged between two nodes, the directional algorithm sends messages in the recorded direction of the destination node, guaranteeing the delivery by following the direction. The improved algorithm suggested within this thesis project includes an additional parameter, direction of travel, as a means of determining the location of a destination node. When data needs to be exchanged between two nodes, the directional algorithm sends messages in the recorded direction of the destination node, guaranteeing the delivery by following the direction. The end result is an enhancement to the delivery ratio, of the sent to the received packet. This also allows the reduction in the number of control packets that need to be distributed, reducing the overall control overhead of the Improved Dream protocol.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.44-46).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Kien A. Hua. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-138).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.93-99).

Thesis (M.E.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). "April 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves [93]-96). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / This thesis shows that mobility management protocols for infrastructure Internet may be used in a wireless mesh network environment. In this research Mobile IPv6 and Fast Handover for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 are successfully implemented in a wireless mesh network environment. Two experiments were carried out: vertical and horizontal handover simulations. Vertical handover simulation involved a heterogeneous wireless environment comprising both wireless local area and wireless mesh networks. An OPNET Mobile IPv6 model was used to simulate the vertical handover experiment. Horizontal handover simulation involved Mobile IPv6 and Fast Handover for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 applied in ns2 wireless mesh network. The vertical handover results show that MIPv6 is able to manage vertical handover between wireless local area and wireless mesh network. The horizontal handover results illustrate that in mesh networks, Fast Handover for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6's performance is superior to Mobile IPv6. Fast Handover for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 generates more throughput and less delay than Mobile IPv6. Furthermore, Fast Handover for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 drops less data packets than Mobile IPv6. The simulations indicate that even though there are multi-hop communications in wireless mesh networks, the performance of the multi-hop routing may not play a big role in the handover performance. This is so because the mesh routers are mostly static and the multi-hop routes are readily available. Thus, the total handover delay is not affected too much by the WMN hops in the paths for signaling message transmission. / South Africa

Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) is a sub class of mobile ad hoc networks. VANET provides wireless communication among vehicles and vehicle to road side equipments. The communication between vehicles is used for safety, comfort and for entertainment as well. The performance of communication depends on how better the routing takes place in the network. Routing of data depends on the routing protocols being used in network. In this study we investigated about different ad hoc routing protocols for VANET. The main aim of our study was to identify which ad hoc routing method has better performance in highly mobile environment of VANET. To measure the performance of routing protocols in VANET, we considered two different scenarios i.e. city and highway. Routing protocols were selected carefully after carrying out literature review. The selected protocols were then evaluated through simulation in terms of performance metrics i.e. throughput and packet drop. After simulation results, we used MATLAB to plot the graph to compare the results of selected routing protocols with each other. Moreover, we computed the sum of output from each scenario to clearly present the difference in results. From results, we observe that A-STAR shows better performance in form of high throughput and low packet drop as compare to AODV and GPSR in city environment, while GPSR shows better performance as compare to AODV in both highway and city environment of VANET. Based on the results of performance metrics in different environments of VANET, we realized that position based routing method of VANET outperformed the traditional ad hoc topology based routing. However, it is hard to provide any universal routing protocol that can deal with all the various environments of VANET. The selection of a single routing protocol is hard in VANET because the protocol performance depends on vehicle speed, driving environment etc. That may vary from one environment of network to another.

The increased demand on wireless applications, coupled with the current inefficiency in spectrum usage, mandate a new communication paradigm shift from fixed spectrum assignment to dynamic spectrum sharing which can be achieved using the cognitive radio technology. Cognitive radio allows unlicensed secondary nodes to form communication links over licensed spectrum bands on an opportunistic basis which increases the spectrum management efficiency. Cognitive radio networks (CRN), however, impose unique challenges due to the fluctuation in the available spectrum as well as the diverse quality of service requirements. One of the main challenges is the establishment and maintenance of routes in multi-hop CRNs. In this thesis, we critically investigate the problem of routing in multi-hop CRNs. The main objective of this research is to maximize network connectivity while limiting routing delay. We developed a general connectivity metric for single-band and multi-band CRNs based on the properties of the Laplacian matrix eigenvalues spectrum. We show through analytical and simulation results that the developed metric is more robust and has lower computational complexity than the previously proposed metrics. Furthermore, we propose a new position-based routing algorithm for large scale CRNs which significantly reduces the routing computational complexity with negligible performance degradation compared to the traditional full node search algorithm. In addition, the connectivity metric developed in this thesis is used to develop a connectivity-aware distributed routing protocol for CRNs. Finally, we use a commodity cognitive radio testbed to demonstrate the concept of CR Wi-Fi networks.