Effects of loss rate on ad hoc wireless routing

Abstract

This thesis uses measurements from a deployed wireless ad hoc network to illustrate the effects of link loss rates on routing protocol performance. Measurements of this network show that the radio links between the majority of nodes have substantial loss rates. These loss rates are high enough to decrease forwarding performance, but not high enough to prevent existing ad hoc routing protocols from using the links. Link-level retransmission can mask high loss rates, at the cost of substantial decreases in throughput. Simulations, driven by the observed loss rates, show that the shortest paths chosen by existing routing protocols tend to find routes with much less capacity than is available along the best route.