Survey of Routing Protocols, Simulation, Testing Tools and Mobility Models in MANET

Developing categories of Wireless Networks are Cellular Networks, Mobile ad-hoc network, Wireless Sensor Networks, Vehicle Ad-hoc Networks, and Wireless Mesh Networks. With the advance of wireless communication technologies, small-size and high-performance computing and communication devices like commercial laptops and personal digital assistants are increasingly used in daily life. After the success of succeeding generation mobile system, more interest in wireless communication was started. This interest has led to two types of wireless networks: infrastructure wireless network and infrastructureless wireless network it is also called Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET). In MANET all nodes are mobile, connected dynamically in an arbitrary manner and each node behaves like a router and it takes part in the discovery and maintenance of routes to other nodes in the network. The network structure changes dynamically due to node mobility. Essentially Mobile Adhoc Networks are suitable when infrastructure is not present or difficult or costly to set up or when network setup is to be done quickly within a short period. They are very attractive for tactical communication in the military and rescue missions (Natural disasters like earthquake, flood, tsunami, and fire). They are also expected to play an important role in civilian mediums such as convention centers, conferences, and electronic classrooms. This research paper surveys the three different areas of research fields, routing protocols, simulation tools, and mobility models, these fields are interrelated to each other. The previous research papers have not surveyed these areas of research fields collectively. Hence this paper is very useful to research community to propose and develop new routing protocols using the simulator in Mobile Adhoc Networks.