Cross-Layer and Cooperative Opportunistic Network Coding in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

• Published in: IEEE transactions on vehicular technology Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 803 - 812
• Main Author: Argyriou, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.02.2010; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Ad hoc networks; Algorithm design and analysis; Algorithms; Applied sciences; Business and industry local networks; Coding; Coding, codes; Cross-layer design; Exact sciences and technology; Gain; IEEE 802.11; Information analysis; Information, signal and communications theory; Interference; Mathematical models; medium access control (MAC) protocol; Mobile ad hoc networks; Network coding; Networks; Networks and services in france and abroad; Optimization; Organization and planning of networks (techniques and equipments); packet scheduling; Physical layer; physical layer (PHY) rate adaptation; Signal and communications theory; Spread spectrum communication; Stations; Switching and signalling; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Teleprocessing networks. Isdn; Throughput; Unicast; wireless ad hoc networks (WANETs); Wireless communication; Wireless networks; Performance evaluation; IEEE 802.11; Wireless LAN; Wireless telecommunication; Information rate; Modeling; Optimization; Coding; Cross-layer approach; Traffic control; physical layer (PHY) rate adaptation; packet scheduling; IEEE standards; Ad hoc network; network coding; Packet switching; Information quantity; Cooperative systems; wireless ad hoc networks (WANETs); Teletraffic; Cross-layer design; Scheduling; Information transmission; Multihop network; Distributed algorithm; medium access control (MAC) protocol; Wireless network; Transmission mode; Planning; Personal communication networks; Comparative study; Gain
• ISSN: 0018-9545; 1939-9359
• DOI: 10.1109/TVT.2009.2035811

In this paper, we present a cross-layer framework for optimizing the performance of opportunistic network coding in wireless multihop networks. The target scenario considers a wireless ad hoc network (WANET) with backlogged nodes and with multiple unicast packet flows. Initially, we focus on modeling the expected network-coded throughput individually for each wireless station as a function of parameters at the lower layers, like the maximum number of link-layer retransmissions and the transmission mode at the physical layer (PHY). Based on this analysis, we develop a network-coding algorithm that opportunistically and locally optimizes the expected information content of individual packet transmissions. To address the problem in a multihop setting, we focus on controlling the air time that is consumed by the resulting transmissions of coded packets. More specifically, we devise a distributed-cooperation algorithm that allows nodes to select the optimal PHY transmission mode by also considering the PHY selection of their neighbors. Nodes use only a partial view of the link contention relationships up to their interference range. Compared with existing works on opportunistic network coding and scheduling in ad hoc networks, our approach can yield significant throughput gains without employing complex link-scheduling algorithms.