Single-path and multipath routings in mobile ad hoc networks

The provisioning of real-time applications such as voice and video over ad hoc networks have received a lot of attention among researchers mainly due to the increasing demand of this service among users. This is particularly challenging due to capacity requirements and stringent delay constraints. In general, wireless nodes have limited resources like capacity and battery power. In multi-hop wireless mobile networks, one of the key issues is how to route packets efficiently. Some of the important factors that need to be considered in designing a routing scheme for ad hoc networks are: minimum delivery latency, higher probability of packet delivery, energy efficiency and adaptability. Therefore, the design of an efficient and reliable routing scheme for such applications is a major challenge. This chapter provides background and describes related research efforts in single path and multipath routing in Mobile ad hoc Networks (MANETs). A brief outline of the operation as well as strengths and limitations of each scheme is presented. In addition, the open issues that must be addressed in the design of efficient routing algorithms are discussed.