A novel packet urgency metric-based cross-layer design for video streaming over multi-rate MANETs

This work proposes a novel packet urgency metric-based cross-layer design of packet scheduling and routing algorithms to effectively deliver video streaming data over mobile ad hoc networks based on IEEE 802.11 multi-rate service. First, the packet urgency, node urgency, and route urgency are defined on the basis of the residual time to the destination. Furthermore, the one-hop transmission delay of each packet is estimated using a Kalman filter. Next, the packet scheduling algorithm is proposed to minimize the node urgency without unnecessary packet drops based on both these urgency metrics and the estimated transmission delay. The proposed routing algorithm constructs a route to minimize the derivative of route urgency in order to maximize the number of packets delivered within the required end-to-end delay and distribute the entire traffic load. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed cross-layer system.