Lightweight random linear coding over wireless mesh networks

Abstract

We propose an enhanced version of an intra-flow Network Coding protocol, which was conceived to offer a reliable communication service, by means of the combination a Random Linear Coding (RLC) scheme with the UDP protocol. We reduce the overhead that was originally required in the protocol header and we assess, through an extensive campaign carried out over the ns-3 framework, the performance gain that is brought by this enhancement, comparing it to the TCP protocol, as the mainstream transport-level solution to offer a reliable service. We study the impact of the various configuration parameters of the solution. Afterwards, we challenge the proposed scheme over random topologies (Wireless Mesh Networks or WMNs). The results show a remarkable gain (approximately 20 times higher) of the performance over an ideal channel, thanks to the aforementioned overhead reduction.