ROUTE MAINTENANCE

When originating or forwarding a packet using a source route, each node transmitting the
packet is responsible for confirming that data can flow over the link from that node to the next hop.
For example, in the situation shown below, node A has originated a packet for node E using a source
route through intermediate nodes B, C, and D:

+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+

| A |---->| B |---->| C |-->? | D | | E |
+-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+

Route Maintenance
In this case, node A is responsible for the link from A to B, node B is responsible for the link from B
to C, node C is responsible for the link from C to D, node D is responsible for the link from D to E.

An acknowledgement can provide confirmation that a link is capable of carrying data, and in
wireless networks, acknowledgements are often provided at no cost, either as an existing standard
part of the MAC protocol in use (such as the link-layer acknowledgement frame defined by IEEE
802.11), or by a "passive acknowledgement" (in which, for example, B confirms receipt at C by
overhearing C transmit the packet when forwarding it on to D).

If a built-in acknowledgement mechanism is not available, the node transmitting the packet can
explicitly request a DSR-specific software acknowledgement be returned by the next node along the
route; this software acknowledgement will normally be transmitted directly to the sending node, but
if the link between these two nodes is unidirectional, this software acknowledgement could travel
over a different, multi-hop path.
After an acknowledgement has been received from some neighbor, a node MAY choose to not
require acknowledgements from that neighbor for a brief period of time, unless the network
interface connecting a node to that neighbor always receives an acknowledgement in response to
unicast traffic.

When a software acknowledgement is used, the acknowledgement request SHOULD be

retransmitted up to a maximum number of times. A retransmission of the acknowledgement request
can be sent as a separate packet, piggybacked on a retransmission of the original data packet, or
piggybacked on any packet with the same next-hop destination that does not also contain a software
acknowledgement.