Improving broadcast efficiency in Ad Hoc networks using network coding

Network coding is a new research area with potential to reduce the network resource usage. With network coding, intermediate nodes forward linear combinations of previously received packets. The type of networks we consider are vehicle-mounted mobile tactical radio networks. Tactical communication may be required in areas where pre-deployed base stations are unavailable. Mobile ad hoc networks satisfy this requirement. Since network resources are scarce in mobile networks without base stations, it is important to find efficient network algorithms. The focus in this thesis is on broadcast traffic in tactical ad hoc networks. Broadcast traffic is generated by important tactical applications, like voice group calls and sitation awareness, which disseminates information network-wide. Multipoint relay flooding is a well-known technique for efficient distribution of broadcast traffic. We show that it is possible to further reduce the number of broadcast transmissions for multipoint relay flooding by using network coding. We also analyse how the transmission reduction depends on the network topology. This report is based on Wanning Zhu's master thesis, "Multipoint Relay Flooding - Network Coding Improvements", KTH 2009.