Utility-Based Opportunistic Routing for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks: Performance Evaluation in Ns-3
Tanku Shreya, Kumar Goud, Kudapa Sai Rohith, Kiran Mannem, Tavanam Venkata Rao, S.N. Chandra Shekhar · 2025
The design of routing protocols for communication in wireless ad hoc networks is especially challenging in the cases where devices are in motion, or the network topology varies frequently over time. In this paper, we propose a new routing protocol named Utility-Based Opportunistic Routing (UBOR), which attempts to improve the routing decision making by using the current state of the network along with the utility-based metrics to calculate the forwarding node. To implement UBOR, we developed an algorithm design in the NS-3 simulation environment and conducted performance evaluation of UBOR against two widely accepted protocols, AODV and OLSR. Our focus was on evaluation metrics like throughput, latency, and packet delivery ratio (PDR). For performance evaluation of the protocols with varying levels of mobility, Random Waypoint, Constant Position, Manhattan Grid, and Random Direction mobility models were used. The results of the simulation demonstrate the outperformance of UBOR against AODV and OLSR across all mobility models, with increased throughput, decreased latency, and improved packet delivery rates. These results indicate the potential of UBOR in routing in dynamic wireless ad hoc networks with efficient and reliable performance even in difficult conditions.