title: Auto-configuration protocols in mobile ad hoc networks.
abstract: The TCP/IP protocol allows the different nodes in a network to communicate by associating a different IP address to each node. In wired or wireless networks with infrastructure, we have a server or node acting as such which correctly assigns IP addresses, but in mobile ad hoc networks there is no such centralized entity capable of carrying out this function. Therefore, a protocol is needed to perform the network configuration automatically and in a dynamic way, which will use all nodes in the network (or part thereof) as if they were servers that manage IP addresses. This article reviews the major proposed auto-configuration protocols for mobile ad hoc networks, with particular emphasis on one of the most recent: D2HCP. This work also includes a comparison of auto-configuration protocols for mobile ad hoc networks by specifying the most relevant metrics, such as a guarantee of uniqueness, overhead, latency, dependency on the routing protocol and uniformity.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería del Software e Inteligencia Artificial (DISIA), Facultad de Informática, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain. javiergv@fdi.ucm.es
authors.forename: Luis Javier García
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Villalba
authors.forename: Julián García
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Matesanz
authors.forename: Ana Lucila Sandoval
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Orozco
authors.forename: José Duván Márquez
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Díaz
mesh_terms: D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003201:Computers; D020407:Internet; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D059015:Wireless Technology