4. Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV)

This model implements the base specification of the Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol. The implementation is based on RFC 3561.

The model was written by Elena Buchatskaia and Pavel Boyko of ITTP RAS, and is based on the ns-2 AODV model developed by the CMU/MONARCH group and optimized and tuned by Samir Das and Mahesh Marina, University of Cincinnati, and also on the AODV-UU implementation by Erik Nordström of Uppsala University.

4.1. Model Description

The source code for the AODV model lives in the directory src/aodv.

4.1.1. Design

Class ns3::aodv::RoutingProtocol implements all functionality of service packet exchange and inherits from ns3::Ipv4RoutingProtocol. The base class defines two virtual functions for packet routing and forwarding. The first one, ns3::aodv::RouteOutput, is used for locally originated packets, and the second one, ns3::aodv::RouteInput, is used for forwarding and/or delivering received packets.

Protocol operation depends on many adjustable parameters. Parameters for this functionality are attributes of ns3::aodv::RoutingProtocol. Parameter default values are drawn from the RFC and allow the enabling/disabling protocol features, such as broadcasting HELLO messages, broadcasting data packets and so on.

AODV discovers routes on demand. Therefore, the AODV model buffers all packets while a route request packet (RREQ) is disseminated. A packet queue is implemented in aodv-rqueue.cc. A smart pointer to the packet, ns3::Ipv4RoutingProtocol::ErrorCallback, ns3::Ipv4RoutingProtocol::UnicastForwardCallback, and the IP header are stored in this queue. The packet queue implements garbage collection of old packets and a queue size limit.

The routing table implementation supports garbage collection of old entries and state machine, defined in the standard. It is implemented as a STL map container. The key is a destination IP address.

Some elements of protocol operation aren’t described in the RFC. These elements generally concern cooperation of different OSI model layers. The model uses the following heuristics:

  • This AODV implementation can detect the presence of unidirectional links and avoid them if necessary. If the node the model receives an RREQ for is a neighbor, the cause may be a unidirectional link. This heuristic is taken from AODV-UU implementation and can be disabled.

  • Protocol operation strongly depends on broken link detection mechanism. The model implements two such heuristics. First, this implementation support HELLO messages. However HELLO messages are not a good way to perform neighbor sensing in a wireless environment (at least not over 802.11). Therefore, one may experience bad performance when running over wireless. There are several reasons for this: 1) HELLO messages are broadcasted. In 802.11, broadcasting is often done at a lower bit rate than unicasting, thus HELLO messages can travel further than unicast data. 2) HELLO messages are small, thus less prone to bit errors than data transmissions, and 3) Broadcast transmissions are not guaranteed to be bidirectional, unlike unicast transmissions. Second, we use layer 2 feedback when possible. Link are considered to be broken if frame transmission results in a transmission failure for all retries. This mechanism is meant for active links and works faster than the first method.

The layer 2 feedback implementation relies on the TxErrHeader trace source, currently supported in AdhocWifiMac only.

4.1.2. Scope and Limitations

The model is for IPv4 only. The following optional protocol optimizations are not implemented:

  1. Local link repair.

  2. RREP, RREQ and HELLO message extensions.

These techniques require direct access to IP header, which contradicts the assertion from the AODV RFC that AODV works over UDP. This model uses UDP for simplicity, hindering the ability to implement certain protocol optimizations. The model doesn’t use low layer raw sockets because they are not portable.

4.1.3. Future Work

No announced plans.