An Efficient Reliable Broadcast protocol for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

This paper presents and studies a reliable broadcast protocol for a group of mobile nodes forming an ad-hoc wireless network. The protocol assumes what is seemingly the weakest restriction on node mobility. A node can remain detached from others for an arbitrary amount of time that is bounded by an unknown constant, and connects with an arbitrarily chosen node for a duration with a small and known lower bound. Under these conditions, node movements may make it hard to construct and maintain a viable routing structure. Consequently, our protocol does not attempt to construct such structures, nor does it attempt to sense or assume the likely pattern of topological changes. Instead it works by decentralising the task of packet dissemination among all nodes. In addition, its design places due emphasis on low packet overhead, adaptivity to perceived network conditions, and small broadcast latency. Simulations confirm these design objectives and correctness proofs validate the protocol.