Virtual time synchronization for multimedia ad hoc networks

We propose a novel protocol to deal with the synchronization problem of multimedia ad hoc networks. Our proposal eliminates the need for hard clock synchronization by implementing a virtual scheme that relies on the desynchronization between nodes. Such a decision is made because of the dynamic nature of the network topology. Therefore, the proposed algorithm computes the clock offsets between a node and each one of its one hop neighbors. We formulate our algorithm by deriving simple expressions combining stochastic and measured parameters. The proposed algorithm is validated through implementation and the results show that high levels of synchronization are achieved.