Auto-Configuration Protocols in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

• Main Authors: Julián García Matesanz, Ana Lucila Sandoval Orozco, Luis Javier García Villalba, José Duván Márquez Díaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2011-03-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: auto-configuration protocol; Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET); IP address assignment; distributed dynamic host configuration protocol; D2HCP, routing protocol
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/11/4/3652/

The TCP/IP protocol allows the different nodes in a network to communicate by associating a different IP address to each node. In wired or wireless networks with infrastructure, we have a server or node acting as such which correctly assigns IP addresses, but in mobile ad hoc networks there is no such centralized entity capable of carrying out this function. Therefore, a protocol is needed to perform the network configuration automatically and in a dynamic way, which will use all nodes in the network (or part thereof) as if they were servers that manage IP addresses. This article reviews the major proposed auto-configuration protocols for mobile ad hoc networks, with particular emphasis on one of the most recent: D2HCP. This work also includes a comparison of auto-configuration protocols for mobile ad hoc networks by specifying the most relevant metrics, such as a guarantee of uniqueness, overhead, latency, dependency on the routing protocol and uniformity.