Challenges of AODV Protocol Under Excessive Load in the OMNeT++/INET Environment

The paper presents a case of a network overload when using a protocol that does not imply high-load operation. The simple, predictable and relatively reliable Ad Hoc On Demand Vector protocol (AODV) was chosen for the study as one of the popular basic protocols for self-organizing networks, used in Internet of Things and Internet of Everything as a current stage of Internet evolution and industrial automation. The testing was done in OMNeT++/INET environment. The simulation model was made of several nodes, positioned to organize two intersecting routes and a longer bypass route. The testing consisted of five different scenarios including a minimal and excessive load. The last scenario had an additional physical barrier between the routes, forcing the nodes to pick a bypass route. The test showed AODV working properly under minimal load and the routing failure under excessive load due to the protocol inability to reorganize transmission routes in response to the network load. The test also proved that the physical separation of the routes significantly decreased the packet loss, leading to several solutions for improving the network speed and reliability of AODV based networks.