Robust MANET Routing using Adaptive Path Redundancy and Coding

Abstract—Providing efficient networking services in MANETs is very challenging due to mobility and unpredictable radio channel: a significant number of packets can be corrupted and/or lost. To increase reliability, various measures have been proposed. A popular approach is to use multiple paths and transmit an identical copy of the packet on each path (i.e., path redundancy). A more efficient way is to use Network Coding on top of path redundancy and send different, encoded packets on each path. Network coding can improve throughput efficiency. However, it increases delays. If channel disruption is intermittent, it behooves us to “turn on ” path redundancy and/or Network Coding only when packet loss is severe. In this paper we compare via simulation the performance of multipath routing with and without Network Coding (and with/without dynamic adaptation) for various motion and packet loss scenarios in terms of reliability, efficiency, robustness, and scalability. I