Network Management Architecture Approaches Designed for Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) play an important role in the pervasive computing to support a wide range of applications. MANETs are self-organizing networks formed spontaneously from a set of mobile devices without any pre-existing fixed infrastructure or administrative support. Network management plays a vital role in the well-being of any communications network. It becomes extremely important and crucial, in order to keep the whole network and application work properly. However, MANETs present several constraints; they are characterized by a dynamic environment and the scarcity of resources. These features make their management rather difficult and a challenging task. Furthermore, the traditional network management approaches become impractical for these networks. This paper provides an overview of the main existing management architecture approaches dedicated to mobile ad hoc networks, and raises their theoretical and practical limitations. And then discusses issues for building efficient management architecture adaptable to MANETs.