In general, there are two main types of routing protocols for multi-hop wireless networks: (i)
topology-based protocols which need topological information to set up a path between the
nodes, (ii) position-based protocols which require some geographical information for the route
discovery process. Among the topology-based routing protocols considered here, two distinct
categories can be defined:
1) Proactive which maintain the information about the routes to every node all the time sending
periodic updates even if the nodes do not communicate with each other, including
DSDV(Destination-Sequenced-Distance Vector) and OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing,)
[4]
2) Reactive called also 'on-demand' for which the paths are computed and maintained only
when needed, including AODV (Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector), and DSR (Dynamic
Source Routing)