Description: The research paper What is Mobile Ad hoc Network describes what mobile ad hoc network is. It is suggested in the research paper that a communicating network can be established instantly having several nodes via MANET without centralizing anything or any posh infrastructural equipment. Such kind of networking is done usually in calamitous situations like disasters and military interventions. The nodes move randomly; hence at a given point in time, an ad hoc network exists between the nodes, giving rise to an arbitrary network topology. MANETs can be dynamically formed for any group of users.
MANET is not like the traditional mobile wireless networks in which base stations, access points and servers have to be deployed before the networks can be used. a MANET operates on bandwidth constrained variable-capacity links. Wireless links have significantly lower capacity than hard-wired links. As such, a MANET has relatively low bandwidth links, high bit error rates, and unstable and asymmetric links. This is in contrast to wired networks which are characterized by high bandwidth links, low bit error rates and stable and symmetric links. One effect of having a low link capacity is that congestion is typically the norm rather than the exception.
Disadvantages of MANET: Disadvantages of MANET are described thus in the research paper. Nodes that are in the transmission range of each other are able to send the data packets directly. However, when the node needs to send data to a non-neighboring node, the data packets will have to be sent through a sequence of multiple hops, with the intermediate nodes acting as routers. This indicates an increase in the number of hops taken. Throughput will decrease speedily when the number of hops is increased. This could be a major flaw in the whole process.
Conclusion: The research paper concludes on a note stating that the role of MANETs is indispensable during critical times. Although the technology still needs considerable improvement
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