Optimized MPR-based flooding in wireless ad hoc network using network coding

Multipoint relays ldquoMPRrdquo have been introduced in the proactive protocol OLSR in order to optimize the flooding overhead of control traffic. In this paper we propose an algorithm to optimize the MPR-based flooding by using network coding where MPR nodes do not simply forward packets they overhear but may send out information that is coded over the contents of several packets they received. Our interest is to reduce the number of transmissions. We show by simulation that flooding can be efficiently performed by exploiting network coding with multipoint relays, resulting in significant reductions in the number of transmissions in the network. We can get benefits from this approach also in other practical considerations such as restricted complexity and memory capabilities.