Single Frequency Network Based Distributed Cooperative Routing with CSMA MAC

Abstract

The multi-hop ad-hoc networking paradigm is expected to be a key feature in future wireless communication systems. In a typical data broadcast scenario, multi-hop ad-hoc routing protocols allow devices (called nodes in this paper) to communicate and form networks in a manner to enable them to successfully communicate and share information with all other nodes. To ensure maximum reachability in a multi-hop network, the concept of cooperative diversity, in which multiple nodes cooperate to transmit the same data to a destination, can be applied. The cooperative diversity is best exploited with the use of Single Frequency Networks (SFNs), also known as a form of Macro-diversity. This work comprises of a design and analysis of an SFN based distributed cooperative routing protocol (SFNDCRP) for multi-hop ad-hoc networks with a focus on routing initiation phase with CSMA as a synchronization mechanism. The proposed protocol is proactive and incurs minimum per packet delay. The total delay in routing initiation phase for a network of n nodes is identified as a problem of n2+2n. A delivery rate or reachability improvement of up-to 36% points for a node is observed for the SFN based protocol as compared to a non-SFN based protocol. For synchronization, a CSMA MAC protocol is deployed for which a deficiency of only less than 0.1 percent exists in the measurements due to collisions in the network.