Cross-Layer Scheduling for Multiple Video Streams over a Hierarchical Emergency-Deployed Network

Wireless ad hoc networks attract raising interest in research due to flexibility of application and deployment. Moreover, cross-layer design is emerging as one of the most appealing approaches in network design. In this paper we focus on cross-layer scheduling of video traffic over a wireless hierarchical ad hoc network, where nodes are equipped with a camera device and are deployed over an endangered indoor area, transmitting video streams to a special node, namely the sink. This node is enroled to collect, elaborate and send them to a control unit which takes decisions accordingly. In particular, we address the problem of the multiple access in the transmission from the nodes equipped with camera devices to the sink. The scheduling strategy proposed takes into account information coming from both the physical layer and the application level. Results show that the cross-layer strategy significantly outperforms the maximum throughput in case of heavily loaded systems and performs like the maximum throughput in case of fully loaded system.