Topology-transparent distributed multicast and broadcast scheduling in mobile ad hoc networks

Transmission scheduling is a key problem in mobile ad hoc networks. Many transmission scheduling algorithms have been proposed to maximize the spatial reuse and minimize the time-division multiple-access (TDMA) frame length in mobile ad hoc networks. Most algorithms are dependent on the exact network topology and cannot adapt to the dynamic topology in a mobile wireless network. To overcome this limitation, several topology-transparent scheduling algorithms have been proposed. The slots are assigned to guarantee that there is at least one collision-free time slot in each frame. In this paper, we consider multicast and broadcast, and propose a novel topology-transparent distributed scheduling algorithm. Instead of guaranteeing at least one collision-free transmission, the proposed algorithm guarantees one successful transmission exceeding a given probability, and achieves a much better average throughput. The simulation results show that the performance of our proposed algorithm is much better than the conventional TDMA and other existing algorithms in most cases. © 2012 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Service differentiation in multihop wireless packet networks

This work explores the potential of link layer scheduling combined with MAC layer prioritization for providing service differentiation in multihop wireless packet networks. As a result of limited power, multihop characteristic and mobility, packet loss ratio in wireless ad hoc networks tends to be high compared to wireline and one-hop mobile data networks. Therefore, for wireless ad hoc networks, DiffServ-like distributed service differentiation schemes are more viable than hard QoS solutions, which are mainly designed for wireline networks. The choice and implementation of proper queuing and scheduling methods, which determine how packets will use the channel when bandwidth becomes available, contributes significantly to this differentiation. Due to the broadcast nature of wireless communication, media access is one of the main resources that needs to be shared among different flows. Thus, one can design and implement algorithms also at MAC level for service differentiation. In this study, in addition to the scheduling discipline, IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function is used to increase the media access probability of a specific class of traffic. It is shown that the service requirements of a class can be better met using this two level approach compared to the cases where either of these schemes used alone

Message and time efficient multi-broadcast schemes

We consider message and time efficient broadcasting and multi-broadcasting in wireless ad-hoc networks, where a subset of nodes, each with a unique rumor, wish to broadcast their rumors to all destinations while minimizing the total number of transmissions and total time until all rumors arrive to their destination. Under centralized settings, we introduce a novel approximation algorithm that provides almost optimal results with respect to the number of transmissions and total time, separately. Later on, we show how to efficiently implement this algorithm under distributed settings, where the nodes have only local information about their surroundings. In addition, we show multiple approximation techniques based on the network collision detection capabilities and explain how to calibrate the algorithms' parameters to produce optimal results for time and messages.Comment: In Proceedings FOMC 2013, arXiv:1310.459

Towards Optimal Distributed Node Scheduling in a Multihop Wireless Network through Local Voting

In a multihop wireless network, it is crucial but challenging to schedule transmissions in an efficient and fair manner. In this paper, a novel distributed node scheduling algorithm, called Local Voting, is proposed. This algorithm tries to semi-equalize the load (defined as the ratio of the queue length over the number of allocated slots) through slot reallocation based on local information exchange. The algorithm stems from the finding that the shortest delivery time or delay is obtained when the load is semi-equalized throughout the network. In addition, we prove that, with Local Voting, the network system converges asymptotically towards the optimal scheduling. Moreover, through extensive simulations, the performance of Local Voting is further investigated in comparison with several representative scheduling algorithms from the literature. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves better performance than the other distributed algorithms in terms of average delay, maximum delay, and fairness. Despite being distributed, the performance of Local Voting is also found to be very close to a centralized algorithm that is deemed to have the optimal performance

An Evolutionary-TDMA Scheduling Protocol (E-TDMA) for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

A new single channel, time division multiple access (TDMA) schedulingprotocol, termed "Evolutionary-TDMA", is presented for mobile ad hocnetworks. The protocol allows nodes in an ad hoc network to reserveconflict-free TDMA slots for transmission to their neighbors. Two topology-dependent schedules are generated and maintained simultaneously. One is a broadcast schedule inwhich every node has one slot to transmit to all its neighbors. The other isa flexible schedule in which a node can reserve multiple slotsfor transmission of unicast, multicast and broadcast traffic. The schedules are reasonably bandwidth efficient and are frequently updated in an evolutionary manner to maintain conflict-free transmissions. The protocol executes across the entire network simultaneously in a fully distributed and parallel fashion. To react quickly to changing topology and bandwidth demands and to keep overhead low,participating nodes need only coordinate with their one-hop neighbors.Traffic prioritization and Quality of Service (QoS) can be supported with this protocol. Its performance, in terms of both scheduling quality and scheduling overhead, is insensitive to network size. Thus,it is a scalable protocol suitable for very large networks, and networks of varying size