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Implementation of MANET routing protocols on OMNeT++

Conference Paper · January 2008

DOI: 10.1145/1416222.1416313 · Source: DBLP

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 Implementation of MANET routing protocols on OMNeT++
A. Ariza-Quintana E. Casilari A. Triviño Cabrera
Dpto. Tecnología Electrónica, University of Málaga
Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga (Spain),
Tfno.: 34-952132755; FAX 34-952131447
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT 3. It presents a modular structure, which eases the implementation

This work describes how some of the most popular ad hoc routing of new communication protocols. Thus, the inclusion of a new
protocols (DYMO, DSR, AODV) have been implemented for the protocol does no require a perfect knowledge of how other parts
INET library of OMNeT++ simulator tool. The developed of the code have been implemented. On the contrary, the different
modules have been programmed so they can be easily extensible layers and protocols communicate by means of messages. So, the
to include future routing MANET protocols. programmer just requires being on familiar terms with the format
of these messages.

Keywords 4. The OMNeT++ code is especially efficient, which results in an

OMNeT++, MANET, Ad hoc networks, DSR, AODV, DYMO. important reduction of the simulation time when compared with
other simulation tools (in particular, NS-2).
1. INTRODUCTION 5. OMNeT++ is widely supported in Internet due to the extension
Simulation is a basic tool for the study and analysis of of OMNet++ community.
communication protocols, especially in the case of Mobile Ad
Nowadays the libraries of OMNeT++ incorporate the
Hoc Networks (MANETs). The need of simulation in this field of
UDP/TCP/IP protocol stack as well as different types of Layer-2
telematics is founded in two main reasons: Firstly, simulation
MAC (Medium Access Control) interfaces, including
permits to model and evaluate extensive MANET networks with
IEEE802.11, which is the most utilised layer-2 protocol for the
multiple nodes which are still not existent or are quite difficult
analysis and evaluation of MANETs. Consequently OMNeT++ is
(and costly) to implement by means of actual devices in realistic
an attractive tool to be employed in studies about MANETs.
scenarios. The fact is that most examples in the literature of actual
However, the distributed nature of ad hoc networks prevents that
ad hoc networks that have been deployed for experimental
classical IP routing protocols (such as OSPF) can be utilised. So,
evaluation just consist of a reduced number of nodes (normally
many specific MANET routing protocols have appeared in the
less than a dozen). Secondly, the complexity and the nature of the
literature during last ten years. None of these protocols have been
factors (radio propagation, node mobility, protocol interaction,
programmed and incorporated in the basic libraries of OMNeT++.
etc) that impact on the performance of MANETs prevents from
In this work we describe the definition of OMNeT++ modules
defining an analytical mathematical model able of characterising
that implement three of the most employed ad hoc routing
this type of networks without enormous simplifications.
protocols: AODV (Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector, [5]),
Nowadays there exist many event-driven licensed and unlicensed DSR (Dynamic Source Routing [6]) and DYMO (Dynamic
simulation environments for the emulation of MANETs. By far, MANET On-demand Routing Protocol [7]).
the most popular tool is Network Simulator-2 or NS-2 [1],
followed by OPNET [2], Ncutns [3] and OMNeT++ [4]. Among 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF AD HOC
all these alternatives, OMNeT++ is gaining an increasing
attention by the MANET research community. As the main ROUTING PROTOCOLS
advantages of OMNeT++ we can mention: Aiming at incorporating some ad hoc routing schemes in
OMNeT++, we have preferred to adapt existing public versions of
1. It is an open source code tool, so the programmer can add new the protocols (available and intended for other environments)
libraries or adapt the existing ones according to the requirements rather than reformulating the programming of the routing
of the scenario and technologies to emulate. algorithms (mainly described in IETF Requests For Comments).
In this way, we benefit from the utilisation of a mature code that
2. It possesses a friendly and simple programming interface,
has been already validated in different scenarios and which
which helps the development of new code.
notably reduces the implementation time and the programming
costs. Additionally, the adaptation of a previously developed
software allows a more rigorous comparison of results with those
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for
personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are studies that do not employ OMNeT++.
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that There exist different available implementations of ad hoc routing
copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy
protocols. However, we considered as the best candidates to be
otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists,
requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. migrated to OMNet++ those that were conceived to work with the
OMNeT++ 2008, March 3, 2008, Marseille, France. Linux Kernel. These versions render possible the definition of
Copyright 2008 ACM 978-963-9799-20-2 ...$5.00. actual ad hoc networks and are quite employed to set up small and
economic prototypes consisting of several linux-equipped 2.2 Message formats and protocol operation
portable devices (mainly PDAs, laptops or embedded PCs). The
adoption of any of these implementations in the OMNet++ As the basic event in OMNet++ is the message, the first step to
environment would permit to contrast the simulation results with develop the new MANET modules is to define and configure the
those generated by a realistic MANET application. In this sense, formats of the messages that each protocol will utilize. The
one of the most popular and employed versions of AODV and implementation of the messages is based on C language structures
DSR for the definition of actual MANETs is the software (‘structs’), so that every field of the message is characterised as an
developed by the University of Uppsala [8]. So, this open-source element of the consequent ‘struct’, which will be accessed by the
code was selected as the base software to integrate these routing code. All these fields are defined as the public attributes of the
protocols in OMNet++. Similarly, for the case of DYMO, we C++ classes that describe the messages.
opted for the Linux software designed in the University of Murcia
The decision of codifying the packets by means of C structures
[8]. This version of DYMO was derived from the implementation
(instead of employing the proprietary OMNeT++ message format)
of Uppsala (AODV-UU) which eased its integration in OMNet++
was made in order to minimize the changes in the adaptation of
once that we adapted AODV and DSR to this simulation
the original ad hoc routing code and also to improve the
environment.
adaptability of the code to other simulation tools, such as ns2.
2.1 MANET Manager Module
For the inclusion of the MANET routing protocols in OMNet++ manetRouting module
we have defined (see Figure 1) a new module (manetRouting)
which includes in turn a managing module (Manet Manager).
Figure 2 shows in a schematic way the relationship between the Manet Manager Module
created MANET routing module and the (IP) network layer of
OMNet++ through the Manet Manager. This managing module, Routing protocol
apart of triggering the ad hoc routing procedures, will be in
IP Modules
charge of controlling the IP tables. Thus, for example, at the (Aodv, Dymo,Dsr)
beginning of the simulation the Manet Manager will erase all the
entries in the IP tables so that the network layer will be forced to Figure 2. Scheme of the management module of the ad hoc
transfer any generated packet to this new module, which will routing protocols. Every routing protocol is executed as ‘leaf’
initiate a route request to find an ad hoc path to the destination module of the Manet Manager
node of the packets. The process of route request (and route reply)
will be accomplished by the corresponding module that All the created messages (summarised in Table 1) have been
implements the active ad hoc routing algorithm. For this purpose, defined in a similar way and include a special field that permits to
the adapted implementations of the protocols were included as transport information in a binary vector. This field is employed to
three different modules (one for each protocol) depending as convey the specific protocol data related to the MANET routing
‘leaf’ modules of the Manet Manager. Once the routes are created algorithms. The copy operators are in charge of duplicating this
by the routing protocols the Manet Manager will update the IP information as the packets (and the OMNet++ messages)
tables accordingly. In any moment, the route discovery process is progresses through the ad hoc network.
triggered if the IP layer does not find in the IP tables any adequate Table 1. Defined messages for the Routing Protocol Modules
entry for an incoming packet. As DSR, AODV and DYMO are
incorporated in different modules, just the module of the routing Protocol Class from which it It Type of Message
protocol to be employed is initiated. This optimises the utilisation is derived provides:
of the resources in the simulation equipment as long as no copies AODV cPacket TLV RREQ, RREP,
of the unused modules are kept active in the system memory. Fields RRER, HELLO
DYMO cPacket TLV RE, UERR,
Fields RRER, HELLO
DSR IPDatagram Header RREQ, RREP,
Dsr RRER, Source
Forwarding.
Note: TLV (Time Length Value)
In the case of AODV and DYMO, when the IP layer receives
a packet it searches the destination in the corresponding IP table
contained in the routingTable module (see Figure 1). Provided
that no adequate entry exists in the table for the packet, it will be
sent to the manetRouting module. At this point, this routing
module buffers the packet and executes the ad hoc route
discovery process in order to find an active path to the
destination. As soon as a valid route is discovered, the IP routing
Figure 1. Connection of the ad hoc routing module to the table is updated and the packet is transferred to the IP layer so it
network layer can be transmitted to the following hop. On the other hand, DSR
is a source routing scheme and proposes an alternative routing to lower cost) than the previously configured route. Additionally, for
the IP layer as long as it includes in the packet header the whole DSR, the software incorporates the technique of path-cache.
set of IP addresses of the nodes that the packet must traverse to Similarly to the link-cache policy (already implemented in the
reach its destination. In this case, the Dsr module does not modify version of Uppsala), the path cache allows the utilisation of
the IP routing table. Alternatively, all the possible paths to a alternative paths when the active route is broken, but without the
destination from a source nodes are stored in a specific internal need of being continuously calculating the shortest path (e.g.:
structure. So, the IP-layer does not perform during the routing of a through Dijkstra algorithm). This reduces the computational cost.
packet and this operation is entirely supported by the Dsr module.
For the implemented version of DYMO, the software has been
To improve the efficiency in the utilisation of the memory by extended so that nodes can learn new (‘gratuitous’) routes
the software, for the case of DSR, a common stack is employed activating a ‘promiscuous’ mode at the MAC layer, that is to say,
by the Dsr modules of all the MANET nodes. The goal of this by listening and reading all the Route Reply (RREP) packets
stack is to reserve a memory space for the structures that are received at the layer-2 although they are not forwarded to their
required to be defined for the management of the packet own IP address. In this sense, as ‘sniffed’ RREP packets in
transmissions. So, when a new packet must be sent, one of the DYMO (and AODV) do not indicate explicitly indicate the IP
structures is extracted from the stack. Similarly, as soon as the address of the neighbour that originated it, the node in
packet is received and its corresponding structure is not necessary promiscuous mode must utilise an ARP-type table that permits to
any longer, the structure is reinserted in the stack instead of being match the MAC address of the neighbour and its corresponding IP
erased. Just in case that the stack is empty, the program would addresses. This will allow the promiscuous node to passively
require to reserve more memory space to continue the simulation. discover new routes to the nodes mentioned in the RREP packet.
Making so and just with a small stack of structures, the number of
operations of memory reservations (and consequently the
3. CONCLUSIONS
simulation time) can be significantly reduced. In particular, this
This work has described the adaptation of diverse
fact has been checked by means of different simulations with
implementations of ad hoc routing protocols so they can be
networks of 100 nodes, heavy traffic conditions and a stack of
incorporated in Omnet++ INET library. In particular, the
only 30 structures.
adaptation has been focused on the protocols AODV, DSR and
The wireless and cooperative nature of ad hoc networks also DYMO, which are among the most employed routing schemes in
required a modification of the search mechanism in the IP tables. studies and prototypes concerning MANETs. The developed
In a conventional IP device this search is mainly based on the IP modules have permitted to integrate in a powerful and popular
prefix. Conversely, in the case of MANET routing, the IP address simulation tool an existing and validated software that is presently
of the incoming packet must coincide completely with one of the performing in actual implementations of ad hoc networks.
IP-table entries. In a ‘classical’ IP routing procedure, the goal is to Therefore, the simulations with OMNeT++ could be compared
determine the output interface through which the received packet even with the results obtained with real MANET testbeds. In
must be transmitted. However, in most MANET nodes the output order to maintain the potentiality and compatibility of the INET
interface is unique (e.g.: an 802.11 interface) and the router library, the programmed code has just slightly modified this
basically must decide which is the IP address of the neighbour library. In this sense, the modifications are limited to the Ip.cc
node to which the packet must be transferred. Once this address is module (to enable the sending of ad hoc packets and the search in
found in the IP table, the corresponding MAC address of the the IP routing tables according to the ad hoc protocols) as well as
neighbour is resolved by means of an Address Resolution to the Ieee802.cc module (with the goal of permitting link layer
Protocol (ARP or ARP-like protocol). feedback). The developed software is publicly available at [11].

2.3 Protocol Extensions 4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Apart from the adaptation of the existing code of the routing This work was partially supported with public funds by the
protocols, several optional extensions have been incorporated in Spanish National Project No.TEC2006-12211-C02-01.
the developed software.
In the case of DSR, the mechanism of cost assignation ETX [10]
5. REFERENCES
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