Simple pragmatic approach to mesh routing using BATMAN

Abstract

Development and performance analysis of ad hoc networking protocols has typically been performed by making use of software based simulation tools. However when running a routing protocol such as OLSR in large mesh network deployments, such as the 300 node Freifunk network in Berlin, it has been found that many of the optimization features, such as Multi-Point-Relays (MPRs), don’t produce reliable routing. Some of the key issues which cause performance degradation with MPRs are routing loops due to asymmetrical links. In this paper a simple pragmatic routing protocol called BATMAN (Better Approach To Mobile ad hoc Networking) is presented as a response to the shortcomings of OLSR together with a comparison of its performance to OLSR. The experiments are run on a custom developed 7 by 7 grid of closely spaced WiFi nodes. The results show that BATMAN outperforms OLSR in terms of better throughput, less delay, lower CPU load and lower routing overhead