Reliable Multicast with Network Coding in Lossy Wireless Networks

To reduce the feedbacks between access point and all nodes in lossy wireless networks, a clustered system model consisting of a cluster head and multiple common nodes is investigated. Network coding has been proposed for more efficient retransmissions in reliable multicast. However, in existing schemes the access point retransmits coded packets, which causes severe delay and considerable feedbacks. In this paper, an XOR scheme based on clustered model is presented. For this scheme, the cluster head broadcasts combined packets by XORing lost packets appropriately to recover lost packets locally. We also analyze the performance in terms of expected number of transmissions. Simulation results verify theoretic analysis. And our results show that proposed XOR offers a compromise between ARQ and random linear network coding.