Path Length Modelling

Abstract

In MANETs, the route or path is the sequence of mobile nodes, which data packets pass through, in order to reach the intended destination node of a given source node. Due to the mobility of the nodes, mobile ad hoc networks have inherently dynamic topologies. Therefore the routes are prone to frequent breaks resulting in reduction of throughput of the network compared to wired or cellular networks. Consequently, the route followed by packets to reach the destination varies frequently. This is a crucial factor that affects the performance of the network. The hop count specifies the number of hops on the path between source and destination nodes. The analysis of the hop count in multi-hop networks is very important because it can provide design guidelines for ad hoc networks.