The use of wireless communications networks hasgained phenomenal momentum, resulting in thewidespread deployment and expansion of wireless networkinfrastructure. The dynamic and unpredictableenvironment characteristic of wireless ad-hoc networkscoupled with the scarcity of wireless network resources,limit and may even preclude the use of conventional subnetconfiguration protocols like the Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) [1]. The problem of auto-configurationis further exacerbated by the high degrees ofmobility in ad-hoc networks. The Dynamic Registrationand Configuration Protocol (DRCP)[2] is an auto-configurationprotocol that has been proposed toovercome these shortcomings and facilitates dynamic,rapid and efficient configuration in the unpredictable ad-hocwireless network environment. This paper describesthe performance modeling and simulation of the DRCPprotocol. More specifically, it helps analyze and answercritical questions related to protocol performance, such asprotocol convergence time, protocol overheads,scalability, etc., under realistic operating conditions. Ourcontributions in this paper are two-fold. First, we analyzeprotocol performance and provide useful insights into itsoperation and use in wireless ad-hoc networks. Next, weillustrate the power of modeling and simulation (M&S),since the complexity of the underlying ad-hoc networks,precludes the use of closed form expressions for analysis.M&S allows us to preserve the dynamics of the underlyingnetwork and to analyze performance under realisticoperating conditions.
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