PBM - Position-Based Multicast for Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Mobile self-organizing networks in which every node acts as terminal and router at the same time are called mobile ad-hoc networks. They make completely new demands on routing and transport mechanisms. Particularly the high density of routers, the use of wireless communication and the frequency of topology changes significantly influence the design of suitable algorithms.

During the last years it has shown that the usage of physical positions of the nodes can considerable improve the efficiency of routing techniques for mobile ad hoc networks. This mainly leads to a much reduced routing overhead and an increased packet delivery rate. Those position-based routing procedures for mobile ad hoc networks have been applied only for point-to-point connections (unicast) and for the distribution of information in a special area (geocast) so far.

Increasingly, one can see a need for point-to-multipoint communication in mobile ad hoc networks. This is required for the efficient realization of group communication, tickers, traffic jam notifications, general news and for entertainment applications.

Thus, in this project a position-based routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks has been implemented. It allows the efficient forwarding of a data packet to multiple receivers which linger at arbitrary different physical positions. Because of the particular characteristics of mobile ad hoc networks it is both necessary and possible to combine overload control procedures with multicast routing.