NB-TRACE: network-wide broadcasting through time reservation using adaptive control for energy efficiency

We present network-wide broadcasting through time reservation using adaptive control for energy efficiency (NB-TRACE), which is an energy-efficient network-wide voice broadcasting architecture for mobile ad hoc networks. In the NB-TRACE architecture, the network is organized into overlapping clusters, where the clusterheads create a non-connected dominating set. Channel access is regulated through a locally maintained distributed TDMA scheme. The first group of packets of a broadcast session is broadcast through blind flooding. Each data rebroadcast includes an implicit acknowledgement to the upstream node. Nodes that do not get acknowledgement for a predetermined time, except the clusterheads, cease to rebroadcast, which prunes redundant retransmissions. The distributed connected dominating set formed through this basic algorithm is broken in time due to node mobility. The network responds to the broken links through passive and active clusterhead data transmission monitoring to ensure the maintenance of the connected dominating set. We compare NB-TRACE with flooding and gossiping using MH-TRACE, IEEE 802.11, and SMAC medium access control protocols through ns-2 simulations. Our results show that NB-TRACE outperforms other network/MAC layer combinations in terms of energy efficiency, packet delivery ratio, jitter, and number of rebroadcasts.