Performance analysis of flooding over CSMA in wireless ad-hoc networks

Flooding and its variants are the simplest and most widely used broadcasting methods. Therefore, analysis of its performance in an ad-hoc environment using realistic assumptions is an important research topic. In this article, deploying a rigorous theoretic analysis, an upper bound on the performance of probabilistic flooding running over CSMA as a real and suitable MAC layer protocol for broadcasting scenarios is derived in a static multi-hop ad-hoc network in saturated condition. This model reveals the relation between network parameters and the performance of flooding and thus, helps the designer to have a better understanding of the effect of different design parameters. Using this model, an upper bound on total network coverage and energy consumed to achieve this coverage level can be determined. Simulation results are also brought to validate the derived upper bound model, and give evidence of its tightness in real scenarios.