ADHOC WIRELESS NETWORKS

Unit 1

1. Cellular Networks is a ________ based infrastructure.

A)common
B)Fixed
C)Multi-hop
Answer: B)Fixed

2. Ad hoc Wireless network have _______ ratio channel.

A)Shared
B)Private
C)Single
Answer: A)Shared

3. Ad hoc Wireless network is ________ routing.

A)Centralized
B)Distributed
C)Frequent
Answer: B) Distributed

4. The mesh topology of wireless mesh networks provides many alternate path for
_________ session between a source and destination.
A)data transfer
B)communication
C) network
Answer: A) Data transfer

5. ________ is used to provide a wireless communication infrastructure among the sensors

deployed in a specific application domain.
A)Wireless sensors
B)mesh networks
C) cellular Networks
Answer: A) Wireless sensors

6. The capacity of a _______ network can be increased if the network incorporate the
properties of multi-hop relaying along with the support of existing fixed infrastructure.
A)Distributed
B) Cellular
C) wireless
 Answer: B) Cellular

7. The MAC protocol design should take into account the requirements of _______
synchronization.
A)Time
B)Data
C) session
Answer: A)time

8. ________ refers to the ability of the MAC protocol to provide an equal share or weighted
share of the bandwidth to all competing nodes.
A)Access
B)Fairness
C)Mesh network
Answer: B) Fairness

9. Major goal of Cellular network routing and call admission are to maximize __________
ratio and minimize the _______ratio.
A) call drop & call acceptance
B) call increase & call decrease
C) call acceptance & call drop
Answer: C) call acceptance & call drop

10. Main aim of ad hoc Wireless network routing is to fine paths with ______ overhead and
also quick reconfiguration of broken paths.
A) Minimum
B) Maximum
C) Increased

Answer: A) Minimum
 Fill in the Blanks.

1. An ad-hoc wireless network is a ____________ network that does not rely on any
centralized infrastructure.
Ans: decentralized

2. In ad-hoc wireless networks, devices communicate directly with each other, forming a
____________ network.
Ans: peer-to-peer

3. Ad-hoc wireless networks are particularly useful in situations where ____________ is

unavailable or impractical.
Ans: infrastructure

4. One advantage of ad-hoc wireless networks is their ____________, allowing for quick
deployment and setup.
Ans: flexibility

5. Devices in an ad-hoc wireless network must be within ____________ of each other to

communicate directly.
Ans: range

6. The lack of a central infrastructure in ad-hoc wireless networks can lead to ____________
issues as the network grows larger.
Ans: scalability

7. Ad-hoc wireless networks often rely on ____________ algorithms to facilitate data routing
between devices.
Ans: routing

8. A common example of an ad-hoc wireless network is the ____________ feature on mobile

devices.
Ans: Personal Hotspot

9. Ad-hoc wireless networks can be vulnerable to ____________ attacks, as they lack the
robust security measures of traditional networks.
Ans: Personal Hotspot

10. In military operations, ad-hoc wireless networks play a crucial role in establishing
____________ communication between troops.
Ans: tactical
11. The ____________ of devices participating in an ad-hoc network can affect its overall
performance and stability.
Ans: number

12. Ad-hoc wireless networks are commonly used in emergency situations when traditional
communication infrastructures are ____________.
Ans: damaged or unavailable.

13. The range of ad-hoc wireless networks can be extended by using ____________ nodes
that act as intermediaries between distant devices.
Ans: intermediary

14. Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are a specific type of ad-hoc network that allows
devices to ____________ their positions.
Ans: dynamically

15. Ad-hoc wireless networks have applications in ____________ monitoring, where sensors
communicate directly with each other.
Ans: environmental

16. The absence of a central authority in ad-hoc wireless networks makes them ____________
and adaptable.
Ans: organizing

17. The performance of ad-hoc wireless networks may ____________ in areas with high
interference or congestion.
Ans: degrade

18. Ad-hoc wireless networks can be formed using various technologies, including
____________ and Bluetooth.
Ans: Wi-Fi

19. In disaster-stricken areas, ad-hoc wireless networks can provide a lifeline for
____________ and relief coordination.
Ans: communication

20. The future of ad-hoc wireless networks looks promising, with advancements in
____________ and communication protocols.
Ans: technology
 Two Mark Questions

1. What is cellular wireless network?

2. What is ad hoc wireless network?
3. What is wireless mesh network?
4. What is wireless sensor network?
5. Define single-hop wireless network.
6. Define multi-hop wireless network.
7. List some of the applications of ad hoc wireless network.
8. Why ad hoc wireless network used in military applications.
9. Define wireless hybrid network.
10. List out some of the issues in ad hoc wireless network.
11. List the issues that occur in sensor network.
12. Explain about any two issues in ad hoc wireless network.
13. What is ad hoc wireless internet?
14. What are the major issues to consider for ad hoc wireless internet?
15. Explain about Quality-of-Service issue.
 10 Mark Questions
Military Applications:

• Ad hoc wireless networks can be very useful in establishing communication among a

group of soldiers for tactical operations. Setting up a fixed infrastructure for
communication among a group of soldiers in enemy territories or in inhospitable
terrains may not be possible. In such environments, ad hoc wireless networks provide
the required communication mechanism quickly.
• Another application in this area can be the coordination of military objects moving at
high speeds such as fleets of airplanes or warships. Such applications require quick and
reliable communication. Secure communication is of prime importance as
eavesdropping or other security threats can compromise the purpose of communication
or the safety of personnel involved in these tactical operations.

Collaborative and Distributed Computing:

• The requirement of a temporary communication infrastructure for quick
communication with minimal configuration among a group of people in a conference
or gathering necessitates the formation of an ad hoc wireless network. For example,
consider a group of researchers who want to share their research findings or
presentation materials during a conference, or a lecturer distributing notes to the class
on the fly. In such cases, the formation of an ad hoc wireless network with the necessary
support for reliable multicast routing can serve the purpose.
• The distributed file sharing applications utilized in such situations do not require the
level of security expected in a military environment. But the reliability of data transfer
is of high importance. Consider the example where a node that is part of an ad hoc
wireless network has to distribute a file to other nodes in the network. Though this
application does not demand the communication to be interruption-free, the goal of the
transmission is that all the desired receivers must have the replica of the transmitted
file.
• Other applications such as streaming of multimedia objects among the participating
nodes in an ad hoc wireless network may require support for soft real-time
communication. The users of such applications prefer economical and portable devices,
usually powered by battery sources.

Emergency Operations:
• Ad hoc wireless networks are very useful in emergency operations such as search and
rescue, crowd control, and commando operations. The major factors that favor ad hoc
wireless networks for such tasks are self-configuration of the system with minimal
overhead, independent of fixed or centralized infrastructure, the nature of the terrain of
such applications, the freedom and flexibility of mobility, and the unavailability of
conventional communication infrastructure.
 • In environments where the conventional infrastructure-based communication facilities
are destroyed due to a war or due to natural calamities such as earthquakes, immediate
deployment of ad hoc wireless networks would be a good solution for coordinating
rescue activities. Since the ad hoc wireless networks require minimum initial network
configuration for their functioning, very little or no delay is involved in making the
network fully operational.

Wireless Mesh Networks:

• Wireless mesh networks are ad hoc wireless networks that are formed to provide an
alternate communication infrastructure for mobile or fixed nodes/users, without the
spectrum reuse constraints and the requirements of network planning of cellular
networks. The mesh topology of wireless mesh networks provides many alternate paths
for a data transfer session between a source and destination, resulting in quick
reconfiguration of the path when the existing path fails due to node failures.
• Mesh networks provide the most economical data transfer capability coupled with the
freedom of mobility. Since the infrastructure built is in the form of small radio relaying
devices fixed on the rooftops of the houses in a residential zone, or similar devices fitted
on the lamp posts. The investment required in wireless mesh networks is much less than
what is required for the cellular network counterparts.
• Such networks are formed by placing wireless relaying equipment spread across the
area to be covered by the network. The possible deployment scenarios of wireless mesh
networks include:
1. Residential zones
2. Highways
3. Business zones
4. Important civilian regions
5. University campuses

Wireless Sensor Networks:

• Sensor networks are a special category of ad hoc wireless networks that are used to
provide a wireless communication infrastructure among the sensors deployed in a
specific application domain. Sensor nodes are tiny devices that have the capability of
sensing physical parameters, processing the data gathered, and communicating over the
network to the monitoring station. A sensor network is a collection of a large number
of sensor nodes that are deployed in a particular region. The activity of sensing can be
periodic or sporadic.
• The issues that make sensor networks a distinct category of ad hoc wireless networks
are the following:
1. Mobility of nodes
2. Size of the network
3. Density of deployment
 4. Power constraints
➢ Replenishable power source
➢ Non-replenishable power source
➢ Regenerative power source

Hybrid Wireless Networks:

• Major application areas of ad hoc wireless networks is in hybrid wireless architectures

such as multi-hop cellular networks (MCNs) and integrated cellular ad hoc relay
(iCAR) networks.
• The primary concept behind cellular networks is geographical channel reuse. Several
techniques such as cell sectoring, cell resizing, and multi-tier cells have been proposed
to increase the capacity of cellular networks. Most of these schemes also increase the
equipment cost.
• The capacity (maximum throughput) of a cellular network can be increased if the
network incorporates the properties of multi-hop relaying along with the support of
existing fixed infrastructure. MCNs combine the reliability and support of fixed base
stations of cellular networks with flexibility and multi-hop relaying of ad hoc wireless
networks.
• Advantages of hybrid wireless networks:
1. Higher capacity than cellular networks.
2. Increased flexibility and reliability in routing.
3. Better coverage and connectivity.

Difference between Cellular and Ad-hoc Wireless Networks

Cellular Networks Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

➢ Fixed infrastructure-based Infrastructure-less
➢ Single-hop wireless links Multi-hop wireless links
➢ Guaranteed bandwidth Shared radio channel
(Designed for voice traffic) (More suitable for best-effort data traffic)
➢ Centralized routing Distributed routing
Packet-switched
➢ Circuit-switched
(Evolving toward emulation of circuit
(Evolving toward packet switching)
switching)
➢ Seamless connectivity (low call drops
Frequent path breaks due to mobility
during handoffs)
➢ High cost and time of deployment Quick and cost-effective deployment
➢ Reuse of frequency spectrum through Dynamic frequency reuse based on carrier
geographical channel reuse sense mechanism
Time synchronization is difficult and
➢ Easier to achieve time synchronization
consumes bandwidth
 Bandwidth reservation requires complex
➢ Easier to employ bandwidth reservation
medium access control protocols
Application domains include battlefields,
➢ Application domains include mainly
emergency search and rescue operations, and
civilian and commercial sectors
collaborative computing
➢ High cost of network maintenance (backup Self-organization and maintenance properties
power source, staffing, etc.) are built into the network
Mobile hosts require more intelligence (should
➢ Mobile hosts are of relatively low
have a transceiver as well as routing/switching
complexity
capability)
➢ Major goals of routing and call admission Main aim of routing is to find paths with
are to maximize the call acceptance ratio minimum overhead and also quick
and minimize the call drop ratio reconfiguration of broken paths
Several issues are to addressed for successful
➢ Widely deployed and currently in the third
commercial deployment even though
generation of evolution
widespread use exists in defense

20 Mark Questions

1. Explain application of ad hoc wireless networks?

2. Brief issues in ad hoc wireless networks?

 Unit 2
1 MARK (CHOOSE)

1.______ is defined at the ratio of the bandwidth used for actual data transmission to the total
available bandwidth. The MAC protocol for ad-hoc networks should maximize it.
a). Bandwidth efficiency
b). Collision masking
c). Fading
Ans: a). Bandwidth efficiency
2._________can be achieved by exchange of control packets.
a). Exposed nodes
b). Synchronization
c). Fading
Ans: b). Synchronization
3. When a node wants to transmit a data packet, it first transmits a_________frame.
a). RTS (Request to Send)
b). CTS (Clear to Send)
c). BTS
Ans: b). a). RTS (Request to Send)
4). _________refers to the process of gaining control of the channel. At any time only one node
is assigned to use the channel.
a). Collision masking
b). Hidden stations
c). Floor acquisition
Ans: c). Floor acquisition
5). _________used for transmitting the busy tone signal
a). Broadcast Channel
b). Control channel
c). Synchronization
Ans: b). Control channel
6). A ___________is responsible for end-to-end reservation and release of bandwidth
resources.
a). QoS routing protocol
b). A MAC protocol
c). A reservation protocol
Ans: a). QoS routing protocol

7).________ protocols use relative time information for effecting reservations.

a). Asynchronous

b). Synchronous

c). None of them

Ans: a). Asynchronous

8). Carrier-sensing by the sender, followed by the _____control packet exchange, enables the
protocol to perform as efficiently as MACA.

a). RTS

b). CTS

c). RTS-CTS

Ans: c). RTS-CTS

9). A_____ can transmit on the data channel only if it finds the busy tone to be absent on the
control channel.
a). Node
b). Data packet
c). Protocol
Ans: a). Node
10). _______piggy-backs the priority tag of a node’s current and head-of-line packets o the
control and data packets
a). Distributed priority scheduling (DPS)
b). MAC layer protocol
c). Data packet
Ans: a). Distributed priority scheduling (DPS)
 1 MARK (FILL UP)

1. --------------- is defined at the ratio of the bandwidth used for actual data transmission to
the total available bandwidth.

Answer: Bandwidth efficiency.

2. -------------- can be achieved by exchange of control packets.

Answer: Synchronization.
3. When a node wants to transmit a data packet, it first transmits a ------------ frame.

Answer: RTS (Request To Send).

4. The receiver node, on receiving the RTS packet, if it is ready to receive the data packet,
transmits a ------------- packet.

Answer: CTS (Clear to Send)

5. -------------- refers to the process of gaining control of the channel. At any time only one
node is assigned to use the channel.

Answer: Floor acquisition

6. The transmission channel is split into ------------- and -----------

Answer: Data channel and control channel.

7. a ----------------used for transmitting the busy tone signal

Answer: control channel

8. The data packet is divided into two portions ---------and-------------- data packet

Answer: preamble and actual

9. --------- was designed in a wireless LAN with a base station

Answer: PRMA
10. --------------- extends PRMA protocol in a wireless LAN.

Answer: D-PRMA

11. The ------------protocol assumes the availability of global time at all nodes.

Answer: Five-Phase Reservation Protocol (FPRP)

12. ------------------ uses a contention mechanism in order to acquire time slots.

Answer: Nodes
13. A --------------protocol is responsible for end-to-end reservation and release of bandwidth
resources.

Answer: QoS routing

14. RTMAC has two components ------------- and --------------

Answer: A medium-access protocol and A reservation protocol.

15. --------------------Provides a bandwidth reservation mechanism for supporting real-time
traffic in ad hoc wireless networks

Answer: Real-Time Medium Access Control Protocol (RTMAC)

16. A media access scheme along with a scheduling mechanism used in ---------------
protocol.

Answer: Distributed Wireless Ordering Protocol (DWOP)

17. Scheduling decisions are made based on-------------

Answer: Distributed Laxity-based Priority Scheduling (DLPS) Scheme.

18. There is no dedicated control channel for --------------- protocol.

Answer: Multi-channel MAC Protocol (MMAC)

19. In-------------- protocol the available bandwidth is divided into several channels

Answer: Multi-channel CSMA MAC Protocol (MCSMA)

20. -------------------Use a rate adaptation approach.

Answer: Receiver-based Automate Protocol (RBAR)

 2 MARK
1.what is BTMA?
Ans:
BTMA -Busy Tone Multiple Access Protocols
The transmission channel is split into two,
• A data channel for data packet transmissions
• A control channel used to transmit the busy tone signal
When a node is ready for transmission, it senses the channel to check whether the busy tone is
active. If not, it turns on the busy tone signal and starts data transmissions
Otherwise, it reschedules the packet for transmission after some random rescheduling delay.

2.Any four goal design for Mac protocol?

Ans:
• The operation of the protocol should be distributed.
• The protocol should provide QoS support for real-time traffic.
• The access delay, which refers to the average delay experienced by any packet to get
transmitted, must be kept low.
• The available bandwidth must be utilized efficiently.
• The protocol should ensure fair allocation of bandwidth to nodes.

3.What are all issues Mac protocol for ad hoc wireless network?
Ans:
• Bandwidth efficiency is defined at the ratio of the bandwidth used for actual data
transmission to the total available bandwidth. The MAC protocol for ad-hoc networks
should maximize it.
• Quality of service support is essential for time-critical applications. The MAC
protocol for ad-hoc networks should consider the constraint of ad-hoc networks.
• Synchronization can be achieved by exchange of control packets.

4.Classification of Mac protocol?

Ans:
• Contention-based protocols
• Contention-based protocols with reservation mechanisms
• Contention-based protocols with scheduling mechanisms
• Other MAC protocols
5.Hidden and exposed terminal problem?
Ans:
Hidden nodes:
• Hidden stations: Carrier sensing may fail to detect another station. For example, A and
D.
• Fading: The strength of radio signals diminished rapidly with the distance from the
transmitter. For example, A and C.
Exposed nodes:
• Exposed stations: B is sending to A. C can detect it. C might want to send to E but
conclude it cannot transmit because C hears B.
• Collision masking: The local signal might drown out the remote transmission.

6.What is HRMA?
Ans:
• A multichannel MAC protocol which is based on half-duplex, very slow frequency-
hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) radios
• Uses a reservation and handshake mechanism to enable a pair of communicating
nodes to reserve a frequency hop, thereby guaranteeing collision-free data
transmission.
• Can be viewed as a time slot reservation protocol where each time slot is assigned a
separate frequency channel.

7.What are the main components of MACA/PR?

Ans:
The main components of MACA/PR are:
• A MAC protocol
• A Reservation protocol
• A QoS routing protocol

8. Two components of RTMAC protocol?

RTMAC has two components:
• A MAC layer protocol is a real-time extension of the IEEE 802.11 DCF.
i). A medium-access protocol for best-effort traffic
ii). A reservation protocol for real-time traffic

• A QoS routing protocol is responsible for end-to-end reservation and release of

bandwidth resources
9.FPRP?
Ans:
Five-Phase Reservation Protocol (FPRP):
• A single-channel time division multiple access (TDMA)-based broadcast scheduling
protocol.
• Nodes uses a contention mechanism in order to acquire time slots.
• The protocol assumes the availability of global time at all nodes.
• The reservation takes five phases: reservation, collision report, reservation
confirmation, reservation acknowledgement, and packing and elimination phase.

10.DWOP?
Ans:
Distributed Wireless Ordering Protocol (DWOP):
• A media access scheme along with a scheduling mechanism
• Based on the distributed priority scheduling scheme

11.Two variations of FAMA?

Ans:
Floor acquisition Multiple Access Protocols (FAMA)
• RTS-CTS exchange with no carrier-sensing uses the ALOHA protocol for
transmitting RTS packets.
• RTS-CTS exchange with non-persistent carrier-sensing uses non-persistent CSMA
for the same purpose.
12.What is Distributed priority scheduling?
Ans:
Distributed priority scheduling (DPS) – piggy-backs the priority tag of a node’s current
and head-of-line packets of the control and data packets

13.What are the factors affects scheduling decisions?

Ans:
The factors that affects scheduling decisions:
• Delay targets of packets
• Traffic load at nodes
• Battery power
14. Explain MMAC?
Multi-channel MAC Protocol (MMAC):
• Multiple channels for data transmission
• There is no dedicated control channel.
• Based on channel usage channels can be classified into three types: high preference
channel (HIGH), medium preference channel (MID), low preference channel (LOW)

15.Advantages of Mac Protocol using directional antennas?

Ans:
MAC protocols that use directional antennas have several advantages:
• Reduce signal interference
• Increase in the system throughput
• Improved channel reuse

10 MARK

1.Connection-based protocols with reservation mechanism?

2.Connection based protocols with schedule mechanism?
3.Design goals for Mac protocols?
4.What are all issues Mac protocols for ad hoc wireless network?
5.What are the other Mac protocols?
6.Connection based protocols?

20 MARK

1. Briefly Explain about contention-based Reservation Mechanisms?

2.Briefly Explain about contention-based protocols with Scheduling Mechanisms?
3.Explain the classification of MAC Protocol?
4.Explain the contention-based protocols?
5.Explain the other MAC Protocols?
 Unit – 3

MCQ QUESTIONS

1. Ad-hoc wireless networks are characterized by:

a) Fixed infrastructure and wired connections

b) Centralized control and management

c) Dynamic and temporary node associations

d) High-speed, dedicated links between nodes

ANS : c) Dynamic and temporary node associations

2. What are the major challenges in designing a routing protocol for ad-hoc
wirelessnetworks?
a) Limited power and bandwidth, node mobility, and network scalability

b) Compatibility with wired networks and global internet connectivity

c) Security measures for protecting data transmission

d) Ensuring a constant, strong signal strength among nodes

ANS :a) Limited power and bandwidth, node mobility, and network scalability

3. Which classification of routing protocols maintains a complete routing table at

each node in the network?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Hierarchical Routing Protocols

ANS : a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

4. How do Table Driven Routing Protocols keep their routing tables updated?

a) Proactively, with periodic updates

b) Reactively, by requesting routes when needed

c) Through constant broadcasting of routing information

d) By using a centralized server to manage routes

ANS : a) Proactively, with periodic updates
5. Which type of routing protocol sets up routes between nodes only when required?

a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Hierarchical Routing Protocols

ANS : b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

6. Hybrid Routing Protocols combine the characteristics of which two routing

protocol types?
a) Table Driven and On-Demand Routing Protocols

b) Hierarchical and Power-Aware Routing Protocols

c) On-Demand and Hierarchical Routing Protocols

d) Table Driven and Power-Aware Routing Protocols

ANS : a) Table Driven and On-Demand Routing Protocols

7. In a Hierarchical Routing Protocol, what is the role of the cluster head?

a) Acts as a central server for routing decisions

b) Handles all data transmission in the network

c) Serves as the gateway to the internet

d) Manages a group of nodes within a cluster

ANS : d) Manages a group of nodes within a cluster

8. Power-Aware Routing Protocols aim to optimize routing decisions based on

whatfactor?
a) Signal strength of the wireless connection

b) The physical distance between nodes

c) The remaining battery power of mobile devices

d) The data rate supported by each node

ANS : c) The remaining battery power of mobile devices
9. Which routing protocol type employs a top-down approach, dividing the network
intoclusters?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Hierarchical Routing Protocols

ANS : d) Hierarchical Routing Protocols

10. Which type of routing protocol dynamically adjusts routing paths to account
forchanging network conditions?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols

ANS : d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols

11. AODV (Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector) is an example of which routing

protocol type?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols

ANS : b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

12. Which routing protocol category is known for its ability to handle highly dynamic
and mobile ad-hoc networks efficiently?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols

ANS : b) On-Demand Routing Protocols
13. The route discovery process in On-Demand Routing Protocols involves:

a) Broadcasting route requests to neighboring nodes

b) Periodically updating routing tables

c) Sending routing updates to a central server

d) Maintaining a constant connection with all nodes

ANS : a) Broadcasting route requests to neighboring nodes

14. When using Power-Aware Routing Protocols, what is the primary objective?

a) Minimize the number of hops in the route

b) Maximize the data transmission speed

c) Conserve energy and prolong battery life

d) Prioritize nodes with higher processing capabilities

ANS : c) Conserve energy and prolong battery life

15. Which routing protocol type is less susceptible to network changes and failures
due toits proactive nature?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols
b) On-Demand Routing Protocols
c) Hybrid Routing Protocols
d) Hierarchical Routing Protocols
ANS : a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

16. DSR (Dynamic Source Routing) is an example of which routing protocol type?

a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols
c) Hybrid Routing Protocols
d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols
ANS : b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

17. How do Hybrid Routing Protocols combine the features of Table Driven and
On-Demand Routing Protocols?
a) By using routing tables and on-demand route setup when needed
b) By maintaining separate networks for each protocol type
 c) By assigning different routing protocols to different nodes
d) By using only one protocol type at a time, based on network conditions
ANS : a) By using routing tables and on-demand route setup when needed

18. Which routing protocol type is best suited for highly dynamic networks where
nodes frequently join or leave the network?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols
b) On-Demand Routing Protocols
c) Hybrid Routing Protocols
d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols
ANS : b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

19. When using Hierarchical Routing Protocols, what is the role of the cluster head?

a) It is a mobile node that moves between clusters

b) It is a fixed node that remains at the center of the network

c) It is the node with the highest battery power in the cluster

d) It manages the communication within the cluster and handles routing decisions
ANS : d) It manages the communication within the cluster and handles routing decisions

20. Which routing protocol type is particularly useful in scenarios where the
powersupply is limited, such as in sensor networks?
a) Table Driven Routing Protocols

b) On-Demand Routing Protocols

c) Hybrid Routing Protocols

d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols

ANS : d) Power-Aware Routing Protocols
 Fill in the Blanks.
1. The major challenges faced by a routing protocol designed for ad hoc wireless networks
include mobility of nodes, resource constraints, error-prone channel state, and
problems.
Answer: hidden and exposed terminal problems.

2. In an ad hoc wireless network, disruption occurs frequently due tothe movement of

nodes, leading to breaks in ongoing sessions.
Answer: path breaks.

3. Unlike wired networks, ad hoc wireless networks experience highlydynamic network

topologies due to the of nodes.
Answer: movement.

4. The convergence of routing protocols in wired networks is slowduring path breaks,

making them unsuitable for ad hoc wireless networks due to their nature.
Answer: stationary.

5. One of the essential requirements for routing protocols in ad hoc wireless networks is
efficient and effective management to adapt to
node movement.
Answer: mobility.

6. The radio band in wireless networks is limited, resulting in lowerdata rates compared
to wired networks, necessitating routing protocols to use the available optimally.
Answer: bandwidth.

7. Ad hoc wireless networks require routing protocols that can minimize overhead to
utilize the limited effectively.
Answer: bandwidth.

8 The limited availability of bandwidth in ad hoc wireless networksposes a constraint on

routing protocols in terms of .
Answer: maintaining topological information.

9. Due to the frequent changes in network topology, routing protocolsin ad hoc wireless
networks require more to maintain consistent
topological information at all nodes.
Answer: control overhead.
10. Efficient routing protocols in wired networks demand complete topology
information, making them less suitable for routing in ad hocwireless networks due to their
nature.
Answer: bandwidth wastage.

11. The broadcast nature of the radio channel in ad hoc wireless networks introduces a
unique challenge as wireless links have
characteristics in terms of link capacity and link-error probability.
Answer: time-varying.

12. Ad hoc wireless network routing protocols need to interact with the MAC layer to
find alternate routes through better-quality links tohandle the challenges posed by the
radio channel.
Answer: error-prone shared broadcast.

13. The hidden terminal problem in ad hoc wireless networks refers tothe collision of
packets at a receiving node due to simultaneous transmissions from nodes that are not
within the transmission
range of the sender.
Answer: direct.

14. Solutions to the hidden terminal problem in ad hoc wireless networks include
medium access collision avoidance (MACA), medium access collision avoidance for
wireless (MACAW), floor acquisition multiple access (FAMA), and dual busy tone
multipleaccess (DBTMA). Among these, MACA requires a two-way handshake control
protocol known as .
Answer: RTS-CTS protocol exchange.

15. An improved version of the MACA protocol, called MACAW, requires the receiver
to acknowledge each successful reception of a data packet, resulting in a four-way
exchange mechanism, namely________.
Answer: RTS-CTS-Data-ACK.

16. Even in the absence of bit errors and mobility, the RTS-CTS control packet exchange
cannot ensure data transmission in ad hoc
wireless networks.
Answer: collision-free.
17. In an ad hoc wireless network environment, specialized routing protocols are necessary
to address the challenges due to issues such as
, , and .
Answer: mobility of nodes, resource constraints, and error-prone shared
broadcast radio channel.

18. Wired network routing protocols are not suitable for ad hoc wireless networks because
they cannot handle the of nodes, limited
, and unique challenges posed by the .
Answer: mobility, bandwidth, error-prone shared broadcast radiochannel.

19. A routing protocol designed for ad hoc wireless networks shouldbe fully to
avoid high control overhead and ensure scalability, making it more than
centralized routing.
Answer: distributed, fault-tolerant.

20. Given the highly dynamic nature of ad hoc wireless networks, therouting protocol
must be adaptive to frequent changes in .
Answer: network topology.

21. Efficient route computation and maintenance in ad hoc wireless networks should
involve a minimum number of nodes to ensure quickaccess to routes and minimize .
Answer: connection setup time.

22. CEDAR is a specialized routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks based on
extracting , which approximates the minimum
dominating set of the network.
Answer: core nodes.

23. The core broadcast in CEDAR enables efficient , while the

second phase involves finding QoS feasible paths over the .
Answer: route discovery, core nodes.

24. CEDAZRP is another routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks that reduces
control overhead by avoiding approaches
and periodic flooding of routing information.
Answer: on-demand.
25. Zone-Based Hierarchical Link State Routing Protocol (ZHLS) requires each node
to have location information with GPS, node ID,zone ID, and topology inside the .
Answer: zone.
 2 MARKS QUESTIONS

1. Define Mobility?
Mobility models characterize the movements of mobile users with respect to their location,
velocity and direction over a period of time. These models play an vital role in the design of
Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET). Most of the times simulators play a significant role in
testing the features of mobile ad hoc networks..

2. Define Bandwidth ?
• Bandwidth is typically defined as the number of bits, kilobits, megabits, or gigabits
that may be sent in one second.
• Bandwidth and capacity are terms that are used interchangeably to describe the pace
at which data is delivered.

3. What is a unique challenge in ad hoc wireless networks?

The broadcast nature of the radio channel poses a unique challenge in ad hoc wireless
networks. The wireless links have time-varying characteristics in terms of link capacity and
link-error probability.

4. What are the Types of Routing Protocols for ad hoc wireless networks?
The routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks can be broadly classified into four
categories based on
• Routing information update mechanism
• Use of temporal information for routing
• •Routing topology
• Utilization of specific resource 5.Define Flat topology routing protocols?
Protocols that fall under this category make use of a flat addressing scheme similar to the one
used in IEEE 802.3 LANs. It assumes the presence of a globally unique (or at least unique to
the connected part of the network) addressing mechanism for nodes in an ad hoc wireless
network.

5. Define On-Demand Protocol?

Protocols that fall under this category do not maintain the network topology information. They
obtain the necessary path when it is required, by using a connection establishment process.
Hence these protocols do not exchange routing information.
6. Define Location-aided routing protocol (LAR)?
It utilizes the location information for improving the efficiency of routing by reducing the
control overhead. LAR assumes the availability of the global positioning system (GPS) for
obtaining the geographical position information necessary for routing.

7. Define Power-aware routing?

This category of routing protocols aims at minimizing the consumption of a very important
resource in the ad hoc wireless networks: the battery power. The routing decisions are based
on minimizing the power consumption either locally or globally in the network.

8. Define Hierarchical topology routing protocols?

Protocols belonging to this category make use of a logical hierarchy in the network and an
associated addressing scheme. The hierarchy could be based on geographical information or
it could be based on hop distance.

9. Define Table-Driven Routing Protocol?

In table-driven routing protocols, every node maintains the network topology information in
the form of routing tables by periodically exchanging routing information. Routing
information is generally flooded in the whole network. Whenever a node requires a path to a
destination, it runs an appropriate path-finding algorithm on the topology information it
maintains.

10. Define Hybrid routing protocol?

Protocols belonging to this category combine the best features of the above two categories.
Nodes within a certain distance from the node concerned, or within a particular geographical
region, are said to be within the routing zone of the given node. For routing within this zone,
a table-driven approach is used.

11. what are the issues in designing a routing protocol in for adhoc wireless networks?
The issues in designing a routing protocol in for adhoc wireless networks are:
• Mobility of nodes
• Resource constraints Error-prone channel state
• Hidden and exposed terminal problems Bandwidth constraint
• Highly dynamic frequent path breaks Frequent topology changes
• Shared broadcast radio channel

12. What is Adhoc Wireless Network?

wireless ad hoc network (WANET) is a type of local area network (LAN) that is built
spontaneously to enable two or more wireless devices to be connected to each other without
requiring typical network infrastructure equipment, such as a wireless router or access point.
In most cases, a PC, laptop or smartphone Wi-Fi interface is used to build an ad hoc network.
In other situations, devices such as wireless sensors are designed to work primarily in an ad
hoc mode.

13. Define Routing Protocol?

An ad hoc routing protocol is a convention, or standard, that controls how nodes decide which
way to route packets between computing devices in a mobile ad hoc network.

14. What are the Characteristics of A routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks?
1. It must be fully distributed, as centralized routing involves high control overhead and
hence is not scalable. Distributed routing is more fault-tolerant than centralized
routing, which involves the risk of single point of failure.
2. It must be adaptive to frequent topology changes caused by the mobility of nodes 3.It
must be loop-free and free from stale routes
 10 MARKS QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS:
1. Characteristics of an Ideal Routing Protocol for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks.
2. Hybrid Routing Protocols.
3. Hierarchical Routing Protocols.
4. Power-Aware Routing Protocols.

ANSWERS:
1. Characteristics of an Ideal Routing Protocol for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks.
Due to the issues in an ad hoc wireless network environment discussed so far, wired network
routing protocols cannot be used in ad hoc wireless networks. Hence ad hoc wireless networks
require specialized routing protocols that address the challenges described above. A routing
protocol for ad hoc wireless networks should have the following characteristics:
1. It must be fully distributed, as centralized routing involves high control overhead and
hence is not scalable. Distributed routing is more fault-tolerant than centralized routing,
which involves the risk of single point of failure.
2. It must be adaptive to frequent topology changes caused by the mobility of nodes.
3. Route computation and maintenance must involve a minimum number of nodes. Each
node in the network must have quick access to routes, that is, minimum connection
setup time is desired.
4. It must be localized, as global state maintenance involves a huge state propagation
control overhead.
5. It must be loop-free and free from stale routes.
6. The number of packet collisions must be kept to a minimum by limiting the number of
broadcasts made by each node. The transmissions should be reliable to reduce message
loss and to prevent the occurrence of stale routes.
7. It must converge to optimal routes once the network topology becomes stable. The
convergence must be quick.
8. It must optimally use scarce resources such as bandwidth, computing power, memory,
and battery power.
9. Every node in the network should try to store information regarding the stable local
topology only. Frequent changes in local topology, and changes in the topology of parts
of the network with which the node does not have any traffic correspondence, must not
in any way affect the node, that is, changes in remote parts of the network must not
cause updates in the topology information maintained by the node.
 10. It should be able to provide a certain level of quality of service (QoS) as demanded by
the applications, and should also offer support for time-sensitive traffic.

2. Hybrid Routing Protocols.

Core Extraction Distributed Ad Hoc Routing Protocol (CEDAR)

• CEDAR is based on extracting core nodes, which together approximate the

minimumdominating set

• A dominating set (DS) of a graph is defined as a set of nodes that every node in the
graphis either in the DS or is a neighbor of some node in the DS.
– There exists at least one core node within three hops

• Core broadcast: core nodes transmit any packet throughout the network in the unicast
– Virtual link: the path between two core nodes

• QoS Path:

– First phase: Finding a core path from the source node to the destination

– Second phase: Finding a QoS feasible path over the core p

CEDAR

• First phase
– A node initiates a RouteRequest if the destination is not in the local topology table of its
corenode.
– Source core node uses core broadcast to send RouteRequest to neighboring core nodes.
– The recipient core node forwards the RouteRequest to its neighboring core nodes if the
destination is not its core member.
– A core node which has the destination as its core member replies to the source core.

• Second phase

– MidCore: the farthest core node in the core path with required bandwidth found by the
sourcecore.
– When the source finds a MidCore, MidCore becomes the new source core and finds
another MidCore in the next iteration until a path to the destination with the required
bandwidth is found.

CEDAR

• Broken path repair

– When a link u-v on the path fails, node u

• sends back a notification to the source node.

• Starts re-computation of a route from s to destination

• drops every subsequent packet that it receives until the recomputation gets completed.

– The source node

• stops transmitting immediately when it receives the notification.

• starts reinitiating the route establishing from itself to the destination.

CEDAR

• Advantage
– It performs both routing and QoS path computation very efficiently with the help of
corenodes

• Disadvantage

– The movement of the core nodes affects the performance of the protocol.
– The update information of core nodes could cause a significant of control overhead.

Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP)

• Intra-zone routing protocol (Proactive routing)

– It is only used in the routing zone.

– It brakes all nodes in the routing zone into interior nodes and peripheral nodes.
– Each node maintain routing path to all nodes in the routing zone by exchanging periodic
routeupdate packets.
• Inter-zone routing protocol (Reactive routing)
Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP)

• When a node s has packets to be sent to a node d

– It checks whether node d is with in its zone.

– If d isn’t in the zone, s broadcasts (uses unicast routing) the RouteRequest to its
peripheralnodes.
– If any peripheral node finds d in its zone, it sends a RouteReply back to s indicating
thepath.
– Otherwise, the peripheral node rebroadcasts the RouteRequest again.
• The query control must ensure that redundant or duplicate RouteRequests are not
forwarded.

• The zone radius has significant impact on the performance.

ZRP

• Advantage
– ZRP reduces the control overhead employed in on-demand approach and the
periodicflooding of routing information in table-driven.

• Disadvantage

– In the absence of a query control, ZRP tends to produce higher control overhead.
– The decision on the zone radius has a significant impact on the performance of the
protocol

Zone-Based Hierarchical Link State Routing Protocol (ZHLS)

• Each node requires its location information (with GPS), node ID, zone ID and topology
insidethe zone.

• Intra-zone

– The routing table is updated by executing the shortest path algorithm.

– The node-level topology is obtained by using the intra-zone clustering mechanism.

• Gateway node

– The nodes receive link responses form nodes belonging to other zones.

– Every nodes in a zone is aware of the neighboring zones and their corresponding
Gatewaynodes.
Zone-Based Hierarchical Link State Routing Protocol (ZHLS)

• Inter-zone
– By using zone link state packets, a node can build the zone topology.

– The zone routing table is formed by executing the shortest path algorithm.

Zone-Based Hierarchical Link State Routing Protocol (ZHLS)

• When a source node Src has packets to be sent to a node Dest

– If Dest is in the same zone, the packets are delivered by the intra-zone routing table.
– If Dest is not in the zone, Src generates a location request packet and forward it to every
other zone.

– The gateway nodes receiving the location request packet verifies its routing table for
Dest. The gateway node which finds Dest in its zone send a location response packet
containing thezone information to the Src.
• ZHLS reduces the storage requirements and the communication overhead.

• But the creation of zone-level topology incurs the additional overhead. And the paths are
notoptimal.
3. Hierarchical Routing Protocols.
Hierarchical Routing Protocols

• Using routing hierarchy.

• Reducing the size of routing table.

• Having better scalability.

Hierarchical State Routing Protocol (HSR)

• HSR operates by classifying different levels of clusters.

• Elected leaders at every level from the members at the immediate higher level.
• The physical clustering is done among the nodes that are reachable in a single wireless hop.

• Nodes are classified as

– Cluster leaders

– Gateway nodes：belonging to multiple clusters

– Normal member nodes

Hierarchical State Routing Protocol (HSR)

• Cluster leaders must be responsible for

– slot/frequency/code allocation
– call admission control

– scheduling of packet transmissions

– exchange of routing information

– handling route breaks

• Every node maintains information about neighbors and link states to each of them.

• This information is broadcast within the cluster at regular intervals.

• The clustering is done recursively to the higher levels
– At any level, the cluster leaders exchange topology information with its peers.

– After obtaining information from its peers, it floods the information to the lower levels.

Hierarchical State Routing Protocol (HSR)

• Hierarchical addressing can help in operation with reducing routing information exchanges.

• The storage required is O(n x m) compared to O(nm) that is required for a flat topology
linkstate routing protocol.
– n is the average number of nodes in a cluster.

– m is the number of levels.

• In military applications of ad hoc networks, the hierarchy of routing assumes
significancewhere devices with higher capabilities of communication can act as the cluster
leaders.

Fisheye State Routing Protocol (FSR)

• FSR uses the fisheye technique to reduce routing overhead and graphical data.
• FSR maintains the topology of the network at every node and computes the shortest paths.

– Periodically, every node exchanges topology information with sequence numbers only
withits neighbors.
– The accuracy decreases with an increase in the distance from the center of the focal
point.
• Scope: the set of nodes that can be reached in a specific numbers of hops.
Fisheye State Routing Protocol (FSR)

• The frequency of exchanges decrease with an increase in scope.

• The path information for far-away nodes may be inaccurate.

• FSR is suitable for large and highly mobile ad hoc wireless networks.
• The number of hops with each scope level has significant influence on the performance.
4. Power-Aware Routing Protocols.

Power-Aware Routing Protocols

• In ad hoc networks, the routers are also equally power-constrained just as the nodes are.

• The use of routing metrics that consider the capabilities of the power source of
nodescontributes to efficient utilization of energy and increases the lifetime of the
networks.

Power-Aware Routing Metrics

• Minimal Energy Consumption per Packet

– Minimize the power consumed by a packet in traversing from the source node to
thedestination node
• Maximize Network Connectivity

– Balance the routing load among the cut-set

• Minimum Variance in Node Power Levels

– Distribute the load among all nodes in the network

– Remain uniform power consumption pattern across all nodes

• Minimum Cost per Packet

– Maximize the life of every node in the network

• Minimize Maximum Node Cost

– Minimize the maximum cost per node for a packet after routing a number of packets
orafter a specific period.
 20 MARKS QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS:
1. Issues in Designing a Routing Protocol for Ad-hoc Wireless Networks.
2. Classification of Routing Protocols.
3. Table Driven Routing Protocols.

ANSWERS:

1. Issues in Designing a Routing Protocol for Ad-hoc

WirelessNetworks.

The major challenges that a routing protocol designed for ad hoc wireless networks faces are
mobility of nodes, resource constraints, error-prone channel state, and hid den and exposed
terminal problems. A detailed discussion on each of the followingis given below.

Mobility

The network topology in an ad hoc wireless network is highly dynamic due to the movement
of nodes, hence an on-going session suffers frequent path breaks. Disruption occurs either due
to the movement of the intermediate nodes in thepath or due to the movement of end nodes.
Such situations do not arise because of reliable links in wired networks where all the nodes are
stationary. Even though the wired network protocols find alternate routes during path breaks,
their convergence is very slow. Therefore, wired network routing protocols cannot be used in
ad hoc wireless networks where the mobility of nodes results in frequently changing network
topologies. Routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks must be able to perform efficient
and effective mobility management.

Bandwidth Constraint

Abundant bandwidth is available in wired networks due to the advent of fiber optics and due to
the exploitation of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technologies. But in a wireless
network, the radio band is limited, and hence the data rates it can offer are much less than what
a wired network can offer. This requires that the routingprotocols use the bandwidth optimally
by keeping the overhead as low as possible.

The limited bandwidth availability also imposes a constraint on routing protocols in

maintaining the topological information. Due to the frequent changes in topology, maintaining
a consistent topological information at all the nodes involves more control overhead which, in
turn, results in more bandwidth wastage. As efficient routing protocols in wired networks
require the complete topology information, they may not be suitable for routing in the ad hoc
wireless networking environment.
Error-Prone Shared Broadcast Radio Channel

The broadcast nature of the radio channel poses a unique challenge in ad hoc wireless networks.
The wireless links have time-varying characteristics in terms of link capacity and link-error
probability. This requires that the ad hoc wireless network routing protocol interacts with the
MAC layer to find alternate routes through better- quality links. Also, transmissions in ad hoc
wireless networks result in collisions of data and control packets. This is attributed to the hidden
terminal problem [1]. Therefore, it is required that ad hoc wireless network routing protocols
find paths withless congestion.

Hidden and Exposed Terminal Problems

The hidden terminal problem refers to the collision of packets at a receiving node due to the
simultaneous transmission of those nodes that are not within the direct transmission range of
the sender, but are within the transmission range of the receiver. Collision occurs when both
nodes transmit packets at the same time without knowing about the transmission of each other.
For example, consider Fig ure 7.1. Here, if both node A and node C transmit to node B at the
same time, their packets collide at node B. This is due to the fact that both nodes A and C are
hidden from each other, as they are not within the direct transmission range of each other and
hence do not know about the presence of each other. Solutions for this problem include medium
access collision avoidance (MACA) [2], medium ac-cess collision avoidance for wireless
(MACAW) [3], floor acquisition multiple access (FAMA) [4], and dual busy tone multiple
access (DBTMA) [5]. MACA requires that a transmitting node first explicitly notifies all
potential hidden nodes about the forthcoming transmission by means of a two-way handshake
control protocol called the RTS-CTS protocol exchange. Note that this may not solve the
problem completely, but it reduces the probability of collisions. To increase the efficiency, an
improved version of the MACA protocol known as MACAW [3] has been proposed. This
protocol requires that the receiver acknowledges each successful reception of a data packet.
Hence, successful transmission is a four-way exchange mechanism, namely, RTS-CTS-Data-
ACK. Even in the absence of bit errors and mobility, the RTS-CTS control packet exchange
cannot ensure collision-free data transmission
that has no interference from hidden terminals. One very important assumption made is that
every node in the capture area of the receiver (transmitter) receives the CTS (RTS) cleanly.
Nodes that do not hear either of these clearly can disrupt the successful transmission of the
Data or the ACK packet. One particularly trouble some situation occurs when node A, hidden
from the transmitter T and within the capture area of the receiver R, does not hear the CTS
properly because it is within the capture area of node B that is transmitting and that is hidden
from both R and T, as illustrated in Figure 7.2. In this case, node A did not successfully receive
the CTS originated by node R and hence assumes that there is no on-going transmission in the
neighborhood.Since node A is hidden from node T, any attempt to originate its own RTS
would result in collision of the on-going transmission between nodes T and R.

The exposed terminal problem refers to the inability of a node which is blocked due to
transmission by a nearby transmitting node to transmit to another node. Consider the example
in Figure 7.3. Here, if a transmission from node B to another node A is already in progress,
node C cannot transmit to node D, as it concludes that itsneighbor, node B, is in transmitting
mode and hence should not interfere with
 the on-going transmission. Thus, reusability of the radio spectrum is affected. For node C to
transmit simultaneously when node B is transmitting, the transmitting frequency of node C
must be different from its receiving frequency.

Resource Constraints

Two essential and limited resources that form the major constraint for the nodes in an ad hoc
wireless network are battery life and processing power. Devices used in ad hoc wireless
networks in most cases require portability, and hence they also have size and weight
constraints along with the restrictions on the power source. Increasing the battery power and
processing ability makes the nodes bulky and less portable. Thus ad hoc wireless network
routing protocols must optimally manage these resources.

2. Classification of Routing Protocols.

Routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks can be classified into several types based on
different criteria. A classification tree is shown in Figure 7.4. Some of theclassifications,
their properties, and the basis of classifications are discussed below.The classification is
not mutually exclusive and some protocols fall in more than oneclass. The deviation from
the traditional routing metrics and path-finding processesthat are employed in wired
networks makes it worth further exploration

in this direction. The routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks can be broadlyclassified
into four categories based on
• Routing information update mechanism
• Use of temporal information for routing
• Routing topology
• Utilization of specific resources

Based on the Routing Information Update Mechanism

Ad hoc wireless network routing protocols can be classified into three major categories based
on the routing information update mechanism. They are:

1. Proactive or table-driven routing protocols:

In table-driven routing protocols, every node maintains the network topology information in
the form of routing tables by periodically exchanging routing information. Routing information
is generally flooded in the whole network. Whenever a node requires a path to a destination, it
runs an appropriate path-finding algorithm on the topology information it maintains. Table-
driven routing protocols arefurther explored in Section 7.4.

2. Reactive or on-demand routing protocols:

Protocols that fall under this category do not maintain the network topology information. They
obtain the necessary path when it is required, by using a connection establishment process.
Hence these protocols do not exchange routing information periodically. Some of the existing
routing protocols that belong to this category are discussed in Section 7.5.

3. Hybrid routing protocols:

Protocols belonging to this category combine the best features of the above two categories.
Nodes within a certain distance from the node concerned, or within a particular geographical
region, are said to be within the routing zone of the given node. For routing within this zone,
a table-driven approach is used. For nodes that are located beyond this zone, an on-demand
approach is used. Section 7.6 describes the protocols belonging to this category in detail.

Based on the Use of Temporal Information for Routing

This classification of routing protocols is based on the use of temporal information used for
routing. Since ad hoc wireless networks are highly dynamic and path breaks are much more
frequent than in wired networks, the use of temporal information regarding the lifetime of the
wireless links and the lifetime of the paths selected assumes significance. The protocols that
fall under this category can be further classified into two types:

1. Routing protocols using past temporal information:

These routing protocols use information about the past status of the links or the status of
links at the time of routing to make routing decisions. For example, the routingmetric
based on the availability of wireless links (which is the cur rent/presentinformation here)
 along with a shortest path-finding algorithm, provides a path thatmay be efficient and
stable at the time of path-finding. The topological changes mayimmediately break the path,
making the path undergo a resource-wise expensive pathreconfiguration process.

2. Routing protocols that use future temporal information:

Protocols belonging to this category use information about the expected future status of the
wireless links to make approximate routing decisions. Apart from the life time of wireless links,
the future status information also includes information regarding the lifetime of the node
(which is based on the remaining battery charge and dischargerate of the non-replenishable
resources), prediction of location, and prediction of link availability.

Based on the Routing Topology

Routing topology being used in the Internet is hierarchical in order to reduce the state
information maintained at the core routers. Ad hoc wireless networks, due to their relatively
smaller number of nodes, can make use of either a flat topology or a hierarchical topology for
routing.

1. Flat topology routing protocols:

Protocols that fall under this category make use of a flat addressing scheme similar tothe one
used in IEEE 802.3 LANs. It assumes the presence of a globally unique (or at least unique to
the connected part of the network) addressing mechanism for nodes in an ad hoc wireless
network.

2. Hierarchical topology routing protocols:

Protocols belonging to this category make use of a logical hierarchy in the network and an
associated addressing scheme. The hierarchy could be based on geographical information or it
could be based on hop distance.

Based on the Utilization of Specific Resources

1. Power-aware routing: This category of routing protocols aims at mini mizing the
consumption of a very important resource in the ad hoc wireless networks: the battery power.
The routing decisions are based on minimizing the power consumption either locally or
globally in the network.

2. Geographical information assisted routing: Protocols belonging to this category

improve the performance of routing and reduce the control overhead by effectively utilizing
the geographical information available. The following section further explores the above
classifications and discusses specific routing protocols belongingto each category in detail.
3. Table Driven Routing Protocols.
TABLE-DRIVEN ROUTING PROTOCOLS

These protocols are extensions of the wired network routing protocols. Theymain tain
the global topology information in the form of tables at every node. Thesetables are updated
frequently in order to maintain consistent and accurate net workstate information. The
destination sequenced distance-vector routing protocol(DSDV), wireless routing protocol
(WRP), source-tree adaptive routing protocol(STAR), and cluster-head gateway switch
routing protocol (CGSR) are some ex amples for the protocols that belong to this category.

Destination Sequenced Distance-Vector Routing Protocol

The destination sequenced distance-vector routing protocol (DSDV) [6] is one of the first
protocols proposed for ad hoc wireless networks. It is an enhanced version of the distributed
Bellman-Ford algorithm where each node maintains a table that contains the shortest distance
and the first node on the shortest path to every other node in the network. It incorporates table
updates with increasing sequence number tags to prevent loops, to counter the count-to-
infinity problem, and for faster convergence. As it is a table-driven routing protocol, routes to
all destinations are readily available at every node at all times. The tables are exchanged
between neighbors at regular intervals to keep an up-to-date view of the network topology. The
tables are also forwarded if a node observes a significant change in local topology. The table
updates are of two types: incremental updates and full dumps. An incremental update takes a
single network data packet unit (NDPU), while a full dump may take multiple NDPUs.
Incremental updates are used when a node does not observe significant changes in the local
topology. A full dump is done either when the local topology changes significantly or when an
incremental update requires more than a single NDPU. Table updates are initiated by a
destination with a new sequence number which is always greater than the previous one. Upon
receiving an updated table, a node either updates its tables based on the received information
or holds it for some time to select the best metric (which may be the lowest number of hops)
received from multiple versions of the same update table from different neighboring nodes.
Based on the sequence number of the table update, it may forward or reject the table. Consider
the example as shown in Figure 7.5 (a). Here node 1 is the source node and node 15 is the
destination. As all the nodes maintain global topology information, the route is already
available as shown in Figure 7.5 (b). Here the routing table of node 1 indicates that the shortest
route to the destination node (node 15) is available through node 5 and the distance to it is 4
hops, as depicted in Figure 7.5 (b).

The reconfiguration of a path used by an on-going data transfer session is handled by the
protocol in the following way. The end node of the broken link initiates a table update message
with the broken link’s weight assigned to infinity (∞) and with a sequence number greater than
the stored sequence number for that destination. Each node, upon receiving an update with
weight ∞, quickly disseminates it to its neighbors in order to propagate the broken-link
information to the whole net-work.
Thus a single link break leads to the propagation of table update information to the whole
network. A node always assigns an odd sequence number to the link break update to
differentiate it from the even sequence number generated by the destination.Consider the case
when node 11 moves from its current position, as shown in Figure
7.6. When a neighbor node perceives the link break, it sets all the paths passing through the
broken link with distance as ∞. For example, when node 10 knows about the link break, it sets
the path to node 11 as ∞ and broadcasts its routing table to its neighbors. Those neighbors
detecting significant changes in their routing tables rebroadcast it to their neighbors. In this
way, the broken link information propagates throughout the network. Node 1 also sets the
distance to node 11 as ∞. When node 14 receives a table update message from node 11, it
informs the neighbors about the shortest distance to node 11. This information is also
propagated throughout thenetwork. All nodes receiving the new update message with the
higher sequencenumber set the new distance to node 11 in their corresponding tables. The
updated table at node 1 is shown in Figure 7.6, where the current distance from node 1 to node
11 has increased from three to four hops.
Advantages and Disadvantages

The availability of routes to all destinations at all times implies that much less delay is involved
in the route setup process. The mechanism of incremental updates with sequence number tags
makes the existing wired network protocols adaptable to ad hocwireless networks. Hence, an
existing wired network protocol can be applied to adhoc wireless networks with many fewer
modifications. The updates are propagated throughout the network in order to maintain an up-
to-date view of the network topology at all the nodes. The updates due to broken links lead to
a heavy control overhead during high mobility. Even a small network with high mobility or a
large network with low mobility can completely choke the available bandwidth. Hence, this
protocol suffers from excessive control overhead that is proportional to the number of nodes in
the network and therefore is not scalable in ad hoc wireless networks, which have limited
bandwidth and whose topologies are highly dynamic. Anotherdisadvantage of DSDV is that in
order to obtain information about a particular destination node, a node has to wait for a
tableupdate message initiated by the same destination node. This delay could result in stale
routing information at nodes.
 Unit – 4

MCQ

1. What does multicast routing in ad-hoc wireless networks involve?

a) Sending data to a specific group of devices
b) Broadcasting data to all devices in the network
c) Point-to-point communication between neighboring devices
d) Routing data packets through multiple intermediate nodes
Answer: a) Sending data to a specific group of devices

2. What is the primary advantage of multicast routing in ad-hoc wireless networks?

a) Reduced network congestion
b) Improved security measures
c) Lower power consumption
d) Enhanced scalability for large networks
Answer: a) Reduced network congestion

3. Which statement best describes the nature of multicast routing in ad-hoc wireless
networks?
a) It is a one-to-many communication paradigm.
b) It is a one-to-one communication paradigm.
c) It is a many-to-many communication paradigm.
d) It is a point-to-point communication paradigm.
Answer: a) It is a one-to-many communication paradigm.

4. What is the purpose of multicast group management in ad-hoc wireless networks?

a) To control access to multicast groups
b) To establish secure communication channels
c) To optimize network performance and resource allocation
d) To prevent unauthorized devices from joining the network
Answer: c) To optimize network performance and resource allocation

5. How does multicast routing differ from unicast routing in ad-hoc wireless networks?
a) Multicast routing requires additional security measures.
b) Multicast routing only involves communication between neighboring devices.
c) Multicast routing supports simultaneous communication with multiple devices.
d) Multicast routing relies on a centralized controller for data forwarding.
Answer: c) Multicast routing supports simultaneous communication with multiple devices.

6. What are the main issues faced in designing a multicast routing protocol?
a) Scalability and group membership management
b) Energy efficiency and data encryption
c) Quality of Service (QoS) and channel allocation
d) Network topology and unicast routing optimization
Answer: a) Scalability and group membership management
7. Which factor poses a challenge in achieving scalability in multicast routing protocols?
a) Limited bandwidth availability
b) Increasing network congestion
c) Large multicast group sizes
d) Unreliable wireless links
Answer: c) Large multicast group sizes

8. What does effective group membership management involve in multicast routing protocol
design?
a) Efficient distribution of group membership updates
b) Ensuring secure authentication of group members
c) Balancing network load across multicast groups
d) Implementing QoS parameters for different groups
Answer: a) Efficient distribution of group membership updates

9. Why is energy efficiency an important issue in multicast routing protocol design for wireless
networks?
a) Wireless devices have limited battery life
b) Energy consumption affects network coverage
c) Energy-efficient protocols minimize interference
d) Energy optimization improves multicast packet delivery
Answer: a) Wireless devices have limited battery life

10. Which aspect of multicast routing protocol design addresses the delivery of multicast packets
over wireless channels?
a) Congestion control mechanisms
b) Adaptive modulation techniques
c) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters
d) Error control and packet loss recovery
Answer: d) Error control and packet loss recovery

11. How do multicast routing protocols operate in ad-hoc wireless networks?

a) They establish a shared tree structure to forward multicast data.
b) They rely on individual unicast connections between devices.
c) They use broadcast packets to distribute multicast data.
d) They employ a centralized controller for data forwarding.
Answer: a) They establish a shared tree structure to forward multicast data.

12. What is the purpose of a shared tree in multicast routing protocols?

a) To minimize network latency and packet loss.
b) To enable point-to-point communication between devices.
c) To facilitate efficient group membership management.
d) To ensure secure data transmission in the network.
Answer: a) To minimize network latency and packet loss.

13. How are multicast packets distributed in a shared tree-based routing protocol?
a) They are sent to all devices in the network.
b) They are forwarded only to devices interested in the multicast group.
c) They follow the shortest path between the source and each receiver.
d) They are transmitted through a central server to all devices.
Answer: b) They are forwarded only to devices interested in the multicast group.

14. What is the role of the root node in a shared tree-based multicast routing protocol?
a) It forwards multicast packets to all devices in the network.
b) It manages group membership and controls multicast traffic.
c) It establishes individual unicast connections with all devices.
d) It performs error correction and packet loss recovery.
Answer: b) It manages group membership and controls multicast traffic.

15. How does a receiver join a multicast group in a shared tree-based protocol?
a) By sending a request to the source node.
b) By establishing a unicast connection with the root node.
c) By sending a join message to the nearest router.
d) By subscribing to the multicast group at a higher layer.
Answer: c) By sending a join message to the nearest router.

16. What does the architecture reference model for multicast routing protocols primarily
address?
a) Data encryption techniques in wireless networks
b) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters for routing decisions
c) Group management and control mechanisms for multicast communication
d) Physical layer communication protocols in ad-hoc networks
Answer: c) Group management and control mechanisms for multicast communication

17. Which of the following best describes multicast routing in ad-hoc wireless networks?
a) Unicast communication between two devices
b) Broadcasting data to all devices in the network
c) Sending data to a specific group of devices
d) Point-to-point communication between neighboring devices
Answer: c) Sending data to a specific group of devices

18. What are the main issues in designing a multicast routing protocol?
a) Congestion control and security
b) Unicast routing and channel allocation
c) Energy efficiency and data encryption
d) Scalability and group membership management
Answer: d) Scalability and group membership management

19. How do multicast routing protocols operate in ad-hoc wireless networks?

a) They use centralized control to manage multicast traffic.
b) They rely on the physical distance between devices for routing.
c) They establish a shared tree structure to forward multicast data.
d) They use dynamic unicast routing tables for multicast communication.
Answer: c) They establish a shared tree structure to forward multicast data.
20. Which of the following is an important component of the architecture reference model for
multicast routing protocols?
a) Data encryption techniques
b) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters
c) Wireless channel interference management
d) Group management and control mechanisms
Answer: d) Group management and control mechanisms

21. What is a key classification of multicast routing protocols?

a) Data rate-based and latency-based
b) Hierarchical and flat-based
c) Reactive and proactive
d) Reliable and unreliable
Answer: c) Reactive and proactive

22. Which type of multicast routing protocol establishes a tree structure to forward multicast
data?
a) Tree-based multicast routing protocols
b) Mesh-based multicast routing protocols
c) Reactive multicast routing protocols
d) Proactive multicast routing protocols
Answer: a) Tree-based multicast routing protocols

23. What is the primary characteristic of mesh-based multicast routing protocols?

a) They utilize multiple paths between devices for data forwarding.
b) They rely on a centralized controller to manage multicast traffic.
c) They establish a hierarchical structure to manage group membership.
d) They use a spanning tree algorithm to construct the multicast tree.
Answer: a) They utilize multiple paths between devices for data forwarding.

24. What is the main criterion used for the classification of multicast routing protocols?
a) Bandwidth availability
b) Distance between devices
c) Number of multicast groups
d) Approach to route establishment
Answer: d) Approach to route establishment

25. Which classification of multicast routing protocols is based on whether routes are established
proactively or reactively?
a) Hierarchical and flat-based
b) Source-based and receiver-based
c) Tree-based and mesh-based
d) Scalable and non-scalable
Answer: b) Source-based and receiver-based
26. In source-based multicast routing, who is responsible for building and maintaining the
multicast distribution tree?
a) The multicast receivers
b) The multicast routers in the network
c) The source device sending the multicast data
d) A centralized controller managing multicast traffic
Answer: c) The source device sending the multicast data

27. What is the primary characteristic of receiver-based multicast routing protocols?

a) They allow receivers to specify the desired multicast group.
b) They rely on a centralized controller to manage multicast traffic.
c) They use a spanning tree algorithm to construct the multicast tree.
d) They establish a hierarchical structure to manage group membership.
Answer: a) They allow receivers to specify the desired multicast group.

28. Which classification of multicast routing protocols is based on the creation of a multicast
distribution tree?
a) Tree-based and mesh-based
b) Reactive and proactive
c) Source-based and receiver-based
d) Scalable and non-scalable
Answer: a) Tree-based and mesh-based

29. In mesh-based multicast routing protocols, how is data forwarded from the source to the
receivers?
a) Through a single path determined by a centralized controller
b) Via multiple paths, taking advantage of mesh network topology
c) Using dynamic unicast routing tables for data distribution
d) By broadcasting data to all devices in the network
Answer: b) Via multiple paths, taking advantage of mesh network topology

30. Which type of multicast routing protocol is better suited for dynamic and large-scale
networks?
a) Tree-based multicast routing protocols
b) Mesh-based multicast routing protocols
c) Source-based multicast routing protocols
d) Receiver-based multicast routing protocols
Answer: b) Mesh-based multicast routing protocols
 Fill in the Blanks.
1. Multicast routing plays a crucial role in enabling efficient data dissemination in ad-hoc
wireless networks.

2. One of the main challenges in designing multicast routing protocols is ensuring scalability
in large networks.

3. Multicast routing protocols operate by establishing paths to deliver data from a sender to
multiple receivers in the network.

4. The architecture reference model for multicast routing protocols defines the components
and interactions involved in the multicast process.

5. Multicast routing protocols can be classified based on their underlying techniques and data
delivery mechanisms.

6. Tree-based multicast routing protocols construct distribution trees to efficiently forward

data to multiple recipients.

7. Mesh-based multicast routing protocols create a network mesh to facilitate data

dissemination among group members.

8. One of the key issues in multicast routing is managing group membership dynamically in
a mobile ad-hoc network.

9. The operation of multicast routing protocols involves building multicast trees and
maintaining group membership information.

10. Efficient multicast routing is crucial for minimizing the control overhead and maximizing
the delivery ratio in wireless ad-hoc networks.

11. Challenges in designing multicast routing protocols include handling node mobility and
maintaining a stable distribution structure.

12. The architecture reference model provides a conceptual framework for understanding how
multicast routing protocols function in the network.

13. Classifications of multicast routing protocols include source-based, group-based, and

protocol-independent techniques.

14. Tree-based multicast routing protocols, such as the Core-Based Tree (CBT), aim to reduce
overhead by using a shared distribution tree.
15. Mesh-based multicast routing protocols, like ODMRP, form a mesh network among group
members for data forwarding.
16. Efficient multicast routing ensures that data is delivered to group members with minimal
packet duplication and latency.

17. The design of multicast routing protocols should account for varying network topologies
and link qualities in ad-hoc wireless environments.

18. Source-based multicast routing protocols rely on the sender to initiate the multicast tree
construction process.

19. Group-based multicast routing protocols rely on receivers to join the multicast group and
build the distribution structure cooperatively.

20. Multicast routing protocols need to handle network partitions and ensure robust data
delivery in challenging environments.

21. Multicast routing protocols can use proactive or reactive strategies to establish and
maintain multicast paths.

22. A well-designed multicast routing protocol optimizes the use of network resources and
minimizes energy consumption in mobile nodes.

23. Hybrid multicast routing protocols combine tree-based and mesh-based approaches to
achieve a balance between efficiency and adaptability.

24. Efficient multicast routing contributes to reduced network congestion and better overall
performance in ad-hoc wireless networks.

25. Multicast routing protocols should incorporate mechanisms for detecting and recovering
from link failures or node departures.

26. The control overhead of multicast routing protocols can be reduced by employing
advanced techniques like pruning and aggregation.

27. Real-world implementation of multicast routing protocols must address the limitations of
practical wireless communication and hardware.

28. Multicast routing protocols can be categorized as intra-domain or inter-domain based on

the scope of their operation.

29. The choice between tree-based and mesh-based multicast routing depends on the specific
network characteristics and application requirements.
30. Future advancements in multicast routing will focus on enhancing reliability, scalability,
and adaptability in ad-hoc wireless networks.

31. Multicast routing protocols need to consider Quality of Service (QoS) requirements to
support diverse applications in ad-hoc wireless networks.

32. An important issue in designing multicast routing protocols is minimizing control message
overhead to conserve bandwidth and energy.

33. The operation of multicast routing protocols involves data encapsulation and forwarding
at intermediate nodes along the multicast tree.

34. Multicast routing protocols should be able to adapt to changing network conditions and
group dynamics in dynamic ad-hoc environments.

35. The Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) protocol is commonly used in IPv6 networks to
manage group membership for multicast routing.

36. Multicast routing protocols must handle the challenges posed by asymmetric
communication links and varying transmission ranges of nodes.

37. The Shared Tree (ST) and Source-specific Multicast (SSM) are two well-known
approaches in the taxonomy of multicast routing protocols.

38. Multicast routing protocols should support efficient data recovery in case of packet loss or
transmission errors during data dissemination.

39. Different multicast routing algorithms, such as the Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF) and
the Steiner Tree algorithm, are used to construct distribution trees.

40. Scalability and robustness are critical factors in evaluating the performance of multicast
routing protocols in large-scale ad-hoc networks.
 8 Mark Questions

1)Discuss the major design issues that need to be addressed while developing a
Multicast Routing Protocol.

Answer:
Designing a multicast routing protocol for ad hoc networks presents several challenges due to
the unique characteristics of such networks. These challenges are as follows:

● Robustness: Ad hoc wireless networks are characterized by the mobility of nodes,

leading to frequent link failures. As a result, data packets sent by the source may be
dropped, causing a low packet delivery ratio. To address this issue, a multicast routing
protocol must be designed to be robust enough to handle node mobility and ensure a
high packet delivery ratio, even in dynamic network environments.

● Efficiency: Ad hoc networks often suffer from limited bandwidth availability, making
the efficiency of the multicast protocol critical. Multicast efficiency is measured by the
ratio of the total number of data packets received by the receivers to the total number
of packets (data and control) transmitted in the network. The multicast routing protocol
should optimize data dissemination to achieve the highest possible multicast efficiency,
thereby conserving precious bandwidth resources.

● Control Overhead: Managing multicast groups requires the exchange of control packets
to keep track of the group members. However, this control overhead consumes a
considerable amount of bandwidth, which is scarce in ad hoc networks. Hence, an
effective multicast routing protocol should minimize the total number of control
packets transmitted to maintain the multicast group, ensuring efficient bandwidth
utilization.

● Quality of Service (QoS): Ad hoc networks find significant applications in military and
strategic scenarios, where QoS is of paramount importance. QoS parameters such as
throughput, delay, delay jitter, and reliability are essential considerations in ad hoc
multicast routing protocols. The multicast routing protocol should be designed to
provide the required QoS levels to support critical applications effectively.

● Dependency on Unicast Routing Protocol: A multicast routing protocol that relies on

a specific unicast routing protocol may encounter compatibility issues in heterogeneous
networks. To ensure seamless functioning across different networks, it is preferable for
the multicast routing protocol to be independent of any particular unicast routing
protocol.

● Resource Management: Ad hoc networks consist of mobile nodes with limited battery
 power and memory. An efficient multicast routing protocol should minimize power
consumption by reducing the number of packet transmissions. Additionally, it should
use minimal state information to conserve memory resources.
Addressing these challenges is crucial in the design of a multicast routing protocol for ad hoc
networks. By prioritizing robustness, efficiency, control overhead reduction, QoS
provisioning, protocol independence, and resource management, multicast routing protocols
can better cope with the dynamic and resource-constrained nature of ad hoc wireless networks,
enabling reliable and efficient multicast communication.

2)Explain the Architecture Reference Model for Multicast Routing Protocols in Ad hoc
Wireless Networks.

Answer:
The Architecture Reference Model for Multicast Routing Protocols in ad hoc wireless
networks comprises three layers in the network protocol stack: the Medium Access Control
(MAC) layer, the Routing layer, and the Application layer. Each layer is responsible for
specific functions and interactions that facilitate efficient multicast communication in these
dynamic networks.

1)MAC Layer: This layer handles the transmission and reception of packets and arbitrates
channel access. For wireless multicast, three crucial functions are performed:

a) Transmission Module: Responsible for scheduling transmissions on the channel, based on

multicast state information and past transmissions. The goal is to achieve efficient and timely
delivery of multicast packets to intended receivers.

b) Receiver Module: The receiver module handles the reception of packets, enabling nodes
to receive multicast data from other nodes within their communication range.

c) Neighbor List Handler: Informs higher layers about neighboring nodes and maintains a
list of all neighbor nodes using beacons or overhearing packets.

2)Routing Layer: Above the MAC layer is the Routing layer, responsible for forming and
maintaining both unicast sessions and multicast groups. It offers essential multicast services to
the application layer, including joining/leaving a multicast group and transmitting/receiving
multicast packets. The routing layer comprises the following components/modules:

a) Unicast Routing Information Handler: Discovers unicast routes using on-demand or

table-driven mechanisms.

b) Multicast Information Handler: The multicast information handler maintains pertinent

information related to the state of the current node with respect to the multicast groups it
belongs to. This information is typically stored in the form of a table. The state might include
a list of downstream nodes, the address of its upstream node(s), sequence number information
etc.
c) Forwarding Module: Decides whether a received multicast packet should be broadcast,
forwarded to a neighbor node, or sent to the application layer.
d) Tree/Mesh Construction Module: Constructs the multicast topology using information
from the unicast routing information handler, initiating flooding when requested by the
application layer, and transmitting session termination messages to end participation in a
multicast session.

e) Session Maintenance Module: Initiates route repair upon lower-layer link break
notification, restoring the multicast topology using multicast and unicast routing tables.

f) Route Cache Maintenance Module (Optional): Gleans information from overheard

routing packets to reduce control overhead, updating the route cache with newer information.

3)Application Layer: The top layer of the protocol stack is the Application layer, which
interacts with the Routing layer to fulfill the multicast requirements of applications. It consists
of two primary modules:

a) Data Packet Transmit/Receive Controller: The data packet transmit/receive controller

handles the actual transmission and reception of multicast data packets. It ensures that data
packets are properly delivered to the intended receivers.

b) Multicast Session Initiator/Terminator: The multicast session initiator/terminator module

is responsible for facilitating the initiation and termination of multicast sessions. When an
application desires to join a multicast group, this module communicates with the routing layer
to initiate the necessary actions to establish the multicast topology. Similarly, when a session
needs to be terminated, this module coordinates with the routing layer to send the appropriate
messages to the network to end the node's participation in the multicast session.

The interactions between these modules and the actions during the lifetime of a multicast
session, such as joining a group, data packet propagation, and route repair, enable efficient and
reliable multicast communication in ad hoc wireless networks. Overall, the Architecture
Reference Model serves as a guide for understanding the different modules and their
interactions in implementing multicast routing protocols, aiding the design and optimization
of protocols to meet the specific challenges posed by ad hoc wireless networks.
3)Explain the operations of Multicast Routing protocols?

Answer:
Multicast routing protocols in ad hoc wireless networks can be broadly classified into two
types based on their operation: source-initiated protocols and receiver-initiated protocols.
These protocols differ in how they establish and maintain the multicast tree or mesh for
efficient data packet dissemination.

Source-Initiated Protocols:
Source-initiated protocols utilize a soft state maintenance approach to construct and
periodically update the multicast tree or mesh. In this approach, the source(s) of the multicast
group periodically flood JoinRequest (JoinReq) packets throughout the network. These
JoinReq packets are propagated by other nodes, eventually reaching all receivers of the
multicast group.
Receivers express their interest in receiving packets for the group by responding with
JoinReply (JoinRep) packets, which are sent back along the reverse path followed by the
JoinReq packet. These JoinRep packets establish forwarding states in the intermediate nodes,
defining how multicast packets should be forwarded to the appropriate next-hop neighbor
nodes.

In soft state source-initiated protocols, there is no explicit route repair procedure. Instead, the
multicast tree or mesh is periodically refreshed by re-initiating the JoinReq flooding process at
the source(s). This approach ensures that the multicast topology remains updated and can adapt
to dynamic network conditions.

In hard state source-initiated protocols, an explicit route repair procedure is included. When a
link break in the tree or mesh is detected, the upstream node that identifies the broken link
initiates a tree construction procedure, similar to the one initiated by the source. Different
protocols adopt various strategies for route repair. Some protocols assign the responsibility of
searching for the former parent to the downstream node, while others impose this responsibility
on the upstream node.

Receiver-Initiated Protocols:
In receiver-initiated multicast protocols, receivers play an active role in constructing the
multicast tree or mesh. The soft state variant of receiver-initiated protocols follows a three-
phase process for tree (or mesh) construction. The receiver initiates the process by flooding a
JoinReq packet throughout the network. Nodes that are part of the multicast tree or mesh and/or
the sources of the multicast group respond with JoinRep packets, indicating their ability to send
data packets for that multicast group.
The receiver chooses the JoinRep with the smallest hop count (or based on other criteria) and
responds with a JoinAcknowledgment (JoinAck) packet along the reverse path taken by the
JoinRep. Periodically, the receiver initiates this procedure for route maintenance, ensuring the
stability of the multicast topology.

In the hard state variant of receiver-initiated protocols, the initial tree (or mesh) construction
process is similar to the soft state variant. However, when a link break is detected, the
responsibility for restoring the multicast topology can be assigned to either the downstream or
upstream node. In case of the downstream node being responsible, it searches for a route to the
multicast tree (or mesh) through a procedure similar to the initial topology construction
process.
 12 Mark Questions

1. Architecture reference model for multicast routing?

1. Medium access control (MAC) layer:

The important services provided by this layer to the ones above are transmission and reception
of packets. This layer also arbitrates access to the channel. Apart from these functions, three
other important functions are performed by this layer that are particularly important in wireless
multicast: detecting all the neighbors (nodes at a hop distance of 1), observing link
characteristics, and performing broadcast transmission/ reception. Corresponding to these
services, the MAC layer can be thought of as consisting of three principal modules:

(a) Transmission module: This module also includes the arbitration module which schedules
transmissions on the channel. The exact nature of this scheduling depends on the MAC
protocol. In general, the MAC protocol might maintain multicast state information based on
past transmissions observed on the channel, and the scheduling is dependent on that state.

(b) Receiver module.

(c) Neighbor list handler: This module informs the higher layers whether a particular node is a
neighbor node or not. It maintains a list of all the neighbor nodes. This functionality can be
implemented by means of beacons or by overhearing all packets on the channel.

2. Routing layer: This layer is responsible for forming and maintaining the unicast
session/multicast group. For this purpose, it uses a set of tables, timers, and route caches. The
important multicast services it provides to the application layer are the functions to join/leave
a multicast group and to transmit/receive multicast packets. Most of the multicast routing
protocols operate in the routing layer. Other layers have been touched upon here in order to
clarify the interactions in which the routing layer is involved. The routing layer uses the
following components/modules:

(a) Unicast routing information handler: This serves to discover unicast routes (by an on-
demand or a table-driven mechanism).

(b) Multicast information handler: This maintains all the pertinent information related to the
state of the current node with respect to the multicast groups of which it is a part, in the form
of a table. This state might include a list of its downstream nodes, the address of its upstream
node(s), sequence number information, etc. This table might be maintained per group or per
source per group.

(c) Forwarding module: This uses the information provided by the multicast information
handler to decide whether a received multicast packet should be broadcast, or be forwarded to
a neighbor node, or be sent to the application layer.

(d) Tree/mesh construction module: This module is used to construct the multicast topology.
It can use information provided by the unicast routing information handler for this purpose; for
example, this module might initiate flooding on being requested to join a group by the
application layer. Also, when the application layer process (through module 10) sends session
termination messages to this module, this module transmits the appropriate messages to the
network for terminating the participation of the current node in the multicast session.

(e) Session maintenance module: This module initiates route repair on being informed of a
link break by the lower layer. It might use information from the multicast and unicast routing
tables to perform a search (possibly localized) for the node (upstream or downstream) in order
to restore the multicast topology.

(f) Route cache maintenance module: The purpose of this module is to glean information
from routing packets overheard on the channel for possible use later. Such information might
be the addresses of nodes which have requested for a route to a multicast group source, etc.
The route cache is updated as newer information is obtained from the more recent packets heard
on the channel. This module is usually optional in most multicast protocols. It increases
efficiency by reducing the control overhead.

3. Application layer: This layer utilizes the services of the routing layer to satisfy the multicast
requirements of applications. It primarily consists of two modules:

(a) Data packet transmit/receive controller

(b) Multicast session initiator/terminator

The interactions between these modules can be understood by considering some actions that
take place during the lifetime of a multicast session:

1. Joining a group: Module 10, which exists in the application layer, makes a request to join
a group to module 5 present in the routing layer, which can use cached information from
module 4 and the unicast route information from module 9. It then initiates flooding of JoinReq
packets (or other mechanisms) by using module 2 of the MAC layer. These JoinReq packets
are passed by module 3 of other nodes to their forwarding module, which updates the multicast
table and propagates this message. During the reply phase, the forwarding states in the
multicast tables of intermediate nodes are established.

2. Data packet propagation: Data packets are handled by module 11 in the application layer,
which passes them on to module 8 (forwarding module), which makes the decision on whether
to broadcast the packets after consulting module 7 (multicast information handler). A similar
process occurs in all nodes belonging to the multicast topology until eventually the data packets
are sent by the forwarding module of the receivers to the application layer.

3. Route repair: Route repair is handled by module 6 on being informed by module 1 of link
breaks. It uses the unicast and multicast routing tables to graft the node back into the multicast
topology.

2. Tree based multicast routing protocols?

Tree-based multicasting is a well-established concept used in several wired multicast protocols

to achieve high multicast efficiency. In tree-based multicast protocols, there is only one path
between a source-receiver pair. The main drawback of these protocols is that they are not robust
enough to operate in highly mobile environments. Tree-based multicast protocols can be
classified into two types: source-tree based multicast routing protocols and shared-tree-based
multicast routing protocols. In a source-tree-based protocol, a single multicast tree is
maintained per source, whereas in a shared-tree-based protocol, a single tree is shared by all
the sources in the multicast group. Shared-tree-based multicast protocols are more scalable
compared to source-tree-based multicast protocols. By scalability, we mean the ability of the
protocol to work well without any degradation in performance when the number of sources in
a multicast session or the number of multicast sessions is increased. In source-tree-based
multicast routing protocols, an increase in the number of sources gives rise to a proportional
increase in the number of source-trees. This results in a significant increase in bandwidth
consumption in the already-bandwidth-constrained network. But in a shared-tree-based
multicast protocol, this increase in bandwidth usage is not as high as in source-tree-based
protocols because, even when the number of sources for multicast sessions increases, the
number of trees remains the same. Another factor that affects the scalability of source-tree-
based protocols is the memory requirement. When the multicast group size is large with a large
number of multicast sources, in a source-tree-based multicast protocol, the state information
that is maintained per source per group consumes a large amount of memory at the nodes. But
in a shared-tree-based multicast protocol, since the state information is maintained per group,
the additional memory required when the number of sources increases is not very high. Hence
shared-tree-based multicast protocols are more scalable compared to source-tree based
multicast protocols. The rest of this section describes some of the existing tree-based multicast
routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks.

Tree Initialization Phase

In BEMRP, the multicast tree construction is initiated by the receivers. When a receiver wants
to join the group, it initiates flooding of Join control packets. The existing members of the
multicast tree, on receiving these packets, respond with Reply packets. When many such Reply
packets reach the requesting node, it chooses one of them and sends a Reserve packet on the
path taken by the chosen Reply packet. When a new receiver R3 (Figure 8.5) wants to join the
multicast group, it floods the Join control packet. The nodes S, I1, and R2 of the multicast tree
may receive more than one Join control packet. After waiting for a specific time, each of these
tree nodes chooses one Join packet with the smallest hop count traversed. It sends back a Reply
packet along the reverse path which the selected Join packet had traversed. When tree node I1
receives Join packets from the previous nodes I9 and I2, it sends a Reply packet to receiver R3
through node I2. The receiver may receive more than one Reply packet. In this case, it selects
the Reply packet which has the lowest hop count, and sends a Reserve packet along the reverse
path that the selected Reply packet had traversed. Here, in Figure 8.5, receiver R3 receives
Reply packets from source S, receiver R2, and intermediate node I1. Since the Reply packet
sent by intermediate node I1 has the lowest hop count (which is 3), it sends a Reserve packet
to node I3, and thus joins the multicast group.

Tree Maintenance Phase

To reduce the control overhead, in BEMRP, tree reconfiguration is done only when a link break
is detected. There are two schemes to recover from link failures.

1. Broadcast-multicast scheme: In this scheme, the upstream node is responsible for finding
a new route to the previous downstream node. When receiver R3 moves from A to B, it gets
isolated from the remaining part of the tree. The upstream node I3 now floods broadcast
multicast packets (with limited TTL). After receiving this packet, receiver R3 sends a Reserve
packet and joins the group again.
2. Local rejoin scheme: In this scheme, the downstream node of the broken link tries to rejoin
the multicast group by means of limited flooding of the Join packets. When the link between
receiver R3 and its upstream node I3 fails (due to movement of node R3), then R3 floods the
Join control packet with a certain TTL value (depending on the topology, this value can be
tuned). When tree nodes receive the Join control packet, they send back the Reply packet. After
receiving the Reply packet, the downstream node R3 rejoins the group by sending a Reserve
packet to the new upstream node I4.

Route Optimization Phase

When a tree node or a receiver node comes within the transmission range of other tree nodes,
then unwanted tree nodes are pruned by sending the Quit message. In Figure 8.8, when receiver
R3 comes within the transmission range of the intermediate node I2, it will receive a multicast
packet from node I2 earlier than from node I5. When node R3 receives a multicast packet from
node I2, it sends a Reserve packet to node I2 to set up a new route directly to node I2, and
sends a Quit packet to node I5. Since node R3 is no more its downstream node, node I5 sends
a Quit packet to node I4, node I4 sends a Quit packet to node I3, and node I3 in turn sends a
Quit packet to node I2. Thus unnecessary forwarding nodes are pruned. This mechanism helps
to reduce the number of data packet transmissions.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The main advantage of this multicast protocol is that it saves bandwidth due to the reduction
in the number of data packet transmissions and the hard state approach being adopted for tree
maintenance. Since a node joins the multicast group through its nearest forwarding node, the
distance between source and receiver increases. This increase in distance increases the
probability of path breaks, which in turn gives rise to an increase in delay and reduction in the
packet delivery ratio. Also, since the protocol uses the hard state approach for route repair, a
considerable amount of time is spent by the node in reconnecting to the multicast session,
which adds to the delay in packet delivery.
3. What are mesh-based multicast routing protocols?

In ad hoc wireless networks, wireless links break due to the mobility of the nodes. In the case
of multicast routing protocols, the path between a source and receiver, which consists of
multiple wireless hops, suffers very much due to link breaks. Multicast routing protocols which
provide multiple paths between a source-receiver pair are classified as mesh-based multicast
routing protocols. The presence of multiple paths adds to the robustness of the mesh-based
protocols at the cost of multicast efficiency. In this section, some of the existing mesh-based
multicast routing protocols are described in detail.

Mesh Initialization Phase

In the mesh initialization phase, a multicast mesh is formed between the sources and the
receivers. To create the mesh, each source in the multicast group floods the JoinReq control
packet periodically. Upon reception of the JoinReq control packet from a source, potential
receivers can send JoinReply through the reverse shortest path. The route between a source and
receiver is established after the source receives the JoinReply packet. For initializing the mesh,
sources S1 and S2 in the multicast group flood the JoinReq control packets. The nodes that
receive a JoinReq control packet store the upstream node identification number (ID) and
broadcast the packet again. When receivers R1, R2, and R3 receive the JoinReq control packet,
each node sends a JoinReply control packet along the reverse path to the source. Here in the
figure, receiver R2 receives JoinReq control packets from sources S1 and S2 through paths S1-
I2-I3-R2 and S2-I6-I4-I5-R2, respectively. The JoinReply packet contains the source ID and
the corresponding next node ID (the upstream node through which it received the JoinReq
packet). When node I2 receives the JoinReply control packet from receiver R1, it sets a
forwarding flag and becomes the forwarding node for that particular multicast group. After
waiting for a specified time, it composes a new JoinReply packet and forwards it. The format
of the JoinReply packet sent by the node R2. In this way, subsequent forwarding of JoinReply
packets by the intermediate nodes along the reverse path to the source establishes the route.

Mesh Maintenance Phase

In this phase, attempts are made to maintain the multicast mesh topology formed with sources,
forwarding nodes, and receivers. To some extent, the multicast mesh protects the session from
being affected by mobility of nodes. For example, due to movement of the receiver R3, R3 can
still receive data packets through route S2-I6-I4-I7-I8-R3 and this contributes to the high packet
delivery ratio. ODMRP uses a soft state approach to maintain the mesh, that is, to refresh the
routes between the source and the receiver, the source periodically floods the JoinReq control
packet. In Figure 8.31, when receiver R3 receives a new JoinReq control packet from node I11
(sent by the source S2), it sends a JoinReply on this new shortest path R3-I11-I10-I9-S2,
thereby maintaining the mesh structure.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Since ODMRP uses the soft state approach for maintaining the mesh, it exhibits robustness.
But this robustness is at the expense of high control overhead. Another disadvantage is that the
same data packet (fromsource S2 to receiver R3) propagates through more than one path to a
destination node, resulting in an increased number of data packet transmissions, thereby
reducing the multicast efficiency
 20 Mark Questions

1) Broad classification of Multicast Routing Protocols

Ans:
Multicast routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks can be broadly classified into two
types: application-independent/generic multicast protocols and application dependent
multicast protocols. While application-independent multicast protocols are used for
conventional multicasting, application-dependent multicast protocols are meant only for
specific applications for which they are designed. Application-independent multicast protocols
can be classified along three different dimensions.

Application-independent multicast protocols:

Based on Topology:
The current approaches for ad hoc multicast routing protocols can be categorized into two types
based on the multicast topology: tree-based and mesh-based.
1. Tree-based multicast routing protocols:
- Single path: Tree-based protocols provide only a single path between a source and a receiver
pair.
- Efficiency: These protocols are more efficient compared to mesh-based ones because they
use a single path for data transmission.
- Source-tree-based: The tree is rooted at the source, ensuring efficient traffic distribution at
heavy loads.
 - Shared-tree-based: A single tree is shared by all sources within the multicast group, rooted
at a core node.
- Performance: Source-tree-based protocols perform better at heavy loads, while shared-tree-
based protocols are more scalable.
- Core node dependency: The main issue with shared-tree-based protocols is their heavy
reliance on the core node. If the core node fails, the entire multicast protocol's performance is
affected.
2. Mesh-based multicast routing protocols:
- Multiple paths: Mesh-based protocols allow for more than one path between a source and a
receiver pair.
- Robustness: These protocols are more robust due to the availability of multiple paths, which
can help maintain connectivity if some paths fail.

In summary, tree-based multicast routing protocols provide a single path between source-
receiver pairs and can be further divided into source-tree-based and shared-tree-based
protocols. Source-tree-based protocols are more efficient at heavy loads, while shared-tree-
based protocols are more scalable but suffer from core node dependency. On the other hand,
mesh-based multicast protocols allow multiple paths between source-receiver pairs, making
them more robust.

Based on initialization of the multicast session:

Multicast group formation in a multicast protocol can be initiated either by the source node or
by the receivers of the multicast group. Additionally, some multicast protocols do not
distinguish between source and receiver for the initialization of the multicast group. Let's
summarize the three types of multicast routing protocols based on the initiation of the group
formation:
1. Source-Initiated Multicast Routing Protocol:
- Group formation initiation: The multicast group is formed by the source node.
- Role of receivers: Receivers do not actively participate in group formation.
- Control: The source node takes control of the multicast group establishment process.

2. Receiver-Initiated Multicast Routing Protocol:

- Group formation initiation: The multicast group is formed by the receivers.
- Role of receivers: Receivers actively participate in the group formation process.
- Control: The receivers have a more prominent role in deciding the group members and
paths.
3. Source-or-Receiver-Initiated Multicast Routing Protocol:
- Group formation initiation: The multicast group can be initiated by either the source node
or the receivers.
- Role of receivers: Receivers can actively participate in group formation, just like in
receiver-initiated protocols, but the source can also initiate the process.
- Control: Both the source node and receivers may have a say in determining group members
and paths.
In summary, multicast routing protocols can be categorized as source-initiated, receiver-
initiated, or source-or-receiver-initiated, depending on whether the group formation is initiated
by the source node, receivers, or either of them.
Based on the topology maintenance mechanism:
Maintenance of the multicast topology in multicast routing protocols can be achieved using
two approaches: the soft state approach and the hard state approach.
1. Soft State Approach:
- Maintenance method: Control packets are flooded periodically to refresh the multicast
route.
- Goal: This approach aims to achieve a high packet delivery ratio by ensuring up-to-date
route information.
- Advantages: Results in a high packet delivery ratio, ensuring efficient data transmission.
- Disadvantages: Incurs higher control overhead due to frequent flooding of control packets.
2. Hard State Approach:
- Maintenance method: Control packets are transmitted to maintain multicast routes only
when a link in the network breaks or changes.
- Goal: This approach reduces control overhead by minimizing the frequency of control
packet transmissions.
- Advantages: Results in lower control overhead, leading to reduced network congestion.
- Disadvantages: May lead to a lower packet delivery ratio as route updates are less frequent
and might not be as up-to-date.
In summary, multicast topology maintenance can be performed through either the soft state
approach, which periodically floods control packets for high packet delivery ratio but incurs
more control overhead, or the hard state approach, which transmits control packets only when
links break to reduce control overhead but may result in a lower packet delivery ratio. The
choice between these approaches depends on the specific requirements and characteristics of
the multicast routing protocol and the network environment.
Application-dependent multicast protocols:
There are some multicast routing protocols that cater to different needs of a user
depending on the scenarios in which they are used. Some of them are
1) Role - Based Multicast
2) Content - Based Multicast
3) Location - Based Multicast

1. Role - Based Multicast:

- Role-based multicast is a multicast scheme specifically designed for inter-vehicle
communication, with a focus on dynamic changes in the multicast group based on location,
speed, driving direction, and time. The scheme caters to scenarios such as disseminating
information about accidents on highways to relevant vehicles.
Summary of Role-based multicast:
1. Purpose: Role-based multicast is intended for inter-vehicle communication to address the
unique needs of scenarios like accident situations on highways.
2. Dynamic Multicast Group: The multicast group dynamically changes based on factors such
as the location, speed, driving direction, and time. This ensures that only relevant vehicles are
included in the group, optimizing information dissemination.
3. Modified Flooding Technique: A modified flooding technique is used to flood information
about accidents. It allows the calculation of a multicast group based on the vehicles' speed,
direction of movement, and distance from the source (the accident location).
4. Accurate Targeting: The multicast group includes vehicles for which the accident
information could be useful. This helps drivers in those vehicles to take necessary precautions
by braking before reaching the accident zone.
5. Source and Receiver Characteristics: In this model, the source of the information (about the
accident) is stationary, while the receivers (vehicles) are in constant motion, typically moving
toward the source.
6. Limitations: The scheme is not suitable for scenarios where both the sources and the
receivers are in constant motion. It is specifically designed for scenarios where the sources are
stationary, and the receivers are vehicles moving at high speeds.
In summary, Role-based multicast is a specialized multicast scheme for inter-vehicle
communication, effectively adapting the multicast group based on the dynamic characteristics
of vehicles involved, and is particularly useful in situations like disseminating information
about accidents to relevant vehicles on highways.
2. Content - Based Multicast:
- Content-based multicast is a multicast scheme that revolves around the content of the
messages being disseminated, rather than the traditional source-based approach. In this scheme,
receivers express their interests in specific types of content, and the network delivers relevant
messages to the interested receivers based on their content preferences.

Summary of Content-based multicast:

1. Purpose: Content-based multicast focuses on delivering messages based on the content's
relevance, rather than relying on fixed source nodes. It enables receivers to express their
interests in specific content types.
2. Content-Based Filtering: The multicast system employs content-based filtering mechanisms
to match the content of messages with the preferences expressed by receivers. This ensures that
only relevant messages are forwarded to interested receivers.
3. Dynamic Multicast Groups: Instead of predefined multicast groups, content-based multicast
dynamically assembles groups of receivers with similar content preferences. This adaptability
allows for efficient data dissemination to interested parties.
4. Expressing Interests: Receivers actively express their interests in specific content or data
attributes. This could include keywords, data types, or other content-related criteria.
5. Relevant Message Dissemination: When a message is generated or received by the network,
it is forwarded only to receivers who have expressed interest in the specific content matching
the message attributes.
6. Scalability and Efficiency: Content-based multicast is known for its scalability and
efficiency, as it ensures that messages are only sent to interested parties, reducing unnecessary
data transmission.
7. Context-Awareness: The multicast system may also take into account contextual
information, such as receiver location or network conditions, to further optimize message
delivery.
8. Real-Time Updates: As the content preferences of receivers may change dynamically, the
multicast system continuously adapts and updates the multicast groups to accommodate these
changes.
In summary, content-based multicast is a dynamic and efficient approach to data dissemination,
where receivers express their interests in specific content types, and the network delivers
relevant messages based on these preferences. It offers scalability, adaptability, and context-
awareness, making it suitable for various applications, especially in scenarios where content
relevance plays a critical role.

3. Location - Based Multicast:

- Location-based multicast is a multicast scheme that revolves around the geographical location
of receivers. It enables efficient data dissemination to receivers within specific geographic
regions or proximity to a source node. This approach is particularly useful in scenarios where
information needs to be disseminated to devices within a certain location or coverage area.
Summary of Location-based multicast:
1. Purpose: Location-based multicast focuses on delivering data to receivers based on their
physical location or proximity to a source node. It optimizes data distribution to devices within
specific geographic regions.
2. Geographic Filtering: The multicast system utilizes geographic filtering mechanisms to
identify receivers within a designated coverage area or distance from the source.
3. Geolocation Information: Receivers or devices provide geolocation information, such as
latitude and longitude, to the multicast system. This information is used to determine their
position relative to the source node.
4. Efficient Data Dissemination: Messages are sent only to receivers within the specified
geographic region, reducing unnecessary data transmission and optimizing network resources.
5. Location-Based Multicast Groups: Instead of traditional multicast groups, receivers within
the same geographic region form location-based multicast groups. This dynamic grouping
ensures targeted and localized data distribution.
6. Context-Awareness: The multicast system may also consider other contextual information,
such as movement patterns or speed of receivers, to further enhance data dissemination
efficiency.
7. Real-Time Updates: As receivers move or change their location, the multicast system
dynamically adjusts the multicast groups to include new receivers within the coverage area.
8. Applications: Location-based multicast is especially valuable in location-specific
applications, such as emergency alerts, localized event notifications, and location-based
services.
9. Scalability: Location-based multicast offers scalability, as the size of multicast groups can
vary based on the number of receivers within a specific geographic region.
10. Geofencing: The multicast system may use geofencing techniques to define virtual
boundaries for specific geographic areas, ensuring precise targeting of receivers.
In summary, location-based multicast optimizes data dissemination by considering the
geographic location of receivers. It forms dynamic multicast groups based on receivers'
positions and efficiently delivers information to devices within specific geographic regions or
proximity to a source node. This approach is well-suited for location-specific applications and
offers scalability and context-awareness to enhance overall data distribution efficiency.
 Unit - 5
SECTION-A (1 MARK)

1. The traffic at any given link (or path) due to the traffic through neighboring links (or paths)
is referred to as ________.
2. Induced throughput unfairness refers to the throughput unfairness at the transport layer
due to the throughput/delay unfairness existing at the lower layers such as the ________
layers.
3. Reliability and flow control are end-to-end activities, whereas _______ can at times be a
local activity.
4. Nodes in ad hoc wireless networks face resource constraints including the two most
important resources are _____ & _____.
5. Some of the deployment scenarios of ad hoc wireless networks experience rapidly
changing network topology due to the ________.
6. The transport layer protocol should have mechanisms for _____ control & ______ control
in the network.
7. The protocol should maximize the _______ per connection.
8. It should have a well-defined ______ interaction framework for effective, scalable, and
______ interaction with lower layers.
9. The solutions for TCP over ad hoc wireless networks can further be classified into _____
and ______ approaches.
10. _______ is the performance level of a service offered by the network to the user.
11. QoS service can be characterized by a set of measurable prespecified service requirements
such as minimum ____, maximum _____, maximum _____, and maximum ______.
12. Real-time applications require mechanisms that guarantee _____ and _____.
13. Real-time applications can be classified as _____ and _____.
14. As different applications have different requirements, the services required by them and
the associated ____ parameters differ from application to application.
15. Since the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network do not have any restriction on mobility, the
______ changes dynamically.
16. In most cases, the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network maintain both the ______
information and ______ information.
17. Unlike wireless LANs and cellular networks, ad hoc wireless networks do not have ____
to coordinate the activity of nodes.
18. The lack of central coordinates complicates ______ in ad hoc wireless networks.
19. During propagation through the wireless medium, the radio waves suffer from several
impairments such as _____, _____ & _____.
20. The _______ control packet exchange mechanism, proposed and adopted later in the IEEE
802.11 standard, reduces the hidden terminal problem only to a certain extent.
21. Resources such as ____, ____, ____ & ____ are limited in ad hoc wireless networks.
22. Due to the broadcast nature of the wireless medium, communication through a wireless
channel is ______.
23. ______________ is one of the very important components of any QoS framework.
24. QoS resource reservation mechanisms can be broadly classified into two categories:
________ & ________ reservation mechanisms.
25. If a path is broken due to network dynamics, the reserved resources have to be explicitly
released by a ________ mechanism.
26. In the stateful approach, each node maintains either ______ information or only ______
information, while in the case of a stateless approach, no such information is maintained
at the nodes.
27. In the case of the stateless approach, neither _____ nor _____ state information is
maintained at the nodes.
28. If the QoS requirements are not guaranteed for the entire session, the QoS approach is
termed a _______.
29. If QoS requirements of a connection are guaranteed to be met for the whole duration of
the session, the QoS approach is termed a ________.
30. Based on the interaction between the routing protocol and the QoS provisioning
mechanism, QoS approaches can be classified into two categories: _____ and _____ QoS
approaches.
31. Based on the interaction between the routing protocol and the MAC protocol, QoS
approaches can be classified into two categories: _______ and ______ QoS approaches.
32. Based on the routing information update mechanism employed, QoS approaches can be
classified into three categories, namely, ______, ______, and _____ QoS approaches.
33. The _______ protocol determines which node should transmit next on the broadcast
channel when several nodes are competing for transmission on that channel.
34. In MAC protocol, the _____ mode provides best-effort service, while the _____ mode has
been designed to provide real-time traffic support in infrastructure based wireless network
configurations.
35. In bandwidth-constrained ad hoc wireless networks, the limited resources available need
to be managed efficiently. To achieve this goal, a dynamic clustering scheme is used in
_________.
36. DCF and PCF stands for ______ and ______ respectively.
37. The time interval between the transmission of two consecutive frames in IEEE 802.11
MAC protocol is called the _________.
38. The ______ protocol permits real-time stations (rt-stations) to acquire excess bandwidth
on demand.
39. ______ is the unit of data exchanged between two peer MAC entities using the services of
the physical layer.
40. ______ is the information that is delivered as a unit between MAC service access points.
41. The bandwidth reservation and real-time traffic support capability of MAC protocols can
ensure reservation at the link level only, hence the ______ support for ensuring end-to-end
resource negotiation, reservation, and reconfiguration is very essential.
42. _________ protocols search for routes with sufficient resources in order to satisfy the QoS
requirements of a flow.
43. The QoS metrics can be classified as _____, _____ & _____.
44. _________ routing is a distributed QoS routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks.
45. The objective of ticket-based probing is to improve the _______ of ad hoc wireless
networks.
46. The ________ is based on the prediction of the location of nodes in ad hoc wireless
networks.
47. The network state information is maintained in two tables, namely, the ______ table and
the _____ table.
48. The ___________ protocol was proposed for supporting real-time applications in ad hoc
wireless networks.
49. In _______ protocol, only bandwidth is considered to be the QoS parameter.
50. The ________ strategies are used in the bandwidth allocation phase in order to decide upon
the order of links in a chosen path and particular slot positions to be assigned.

Answers:
1. Induced traffic
2. Network and MAC layers
3. congestion
4. power source, bandwidth
5. mobility of nodes
6. congestion control and flow control
7. throughput
8. Cross-layer interaction & protocol-independent interaction
9. split approaches and end-to-end approaches
10. Quality of service (QoS)
11. minimum bandwidth, maximum delay, maximum delay variance (jitter), and maximum
packet loss rate
12. bounded delay and delay jitter
13. hard real-time applications and soft real-time applications
14. QoS parameters
15. network topology
16. link-specific state information & flow-specific state information
17. central controllers
18. QoS provisioning
19. attenuation, multipath propagation, and interference
20. RTS/CTS
21. bandwidth, battery life, storage space, and processing capability
22. highly insecure
23. QoS resource reservation
24. hard state and soft state reservation mechanisms
25. deallocation mechanism
26. global state information, local state information
27. flow-specific & link-specific state information
28. soft QoS approach
29. hard QoS approach
30. Coupled & decoupled approached
31. independent and dependent QoS approaches
32. table-driven, on-demand, and hybrid QoS approaches
33. MAC protocol
34. DCF mode, PCF mode
35. Cluster TDMA
36. Distributed coordination function (DCF), Point coordination function (PCF)
37. Inter-frame space (IFS)
38. DBASE protocol
39. MPDU (MAC protocol data unit)
40. MSDU (MAC service data unit)
41. network layer
42. QoS routing protocols
43. additive metrics, concave metrics, and multiplicative metrics
44. Ticket-based QoS routing
45. Average call acceptance ratio (ACAR)
46. Predictive location-based QoS routing protocol (PLBQR)
47. update table, routing table
48. Trigger-based (on-demand) distributed QoS routing (TDR)
49. Bandwidth routing (BR) protocol
50. slot allocation strategies
 SECTION -B

1) Define Induced traffic

A link-level transmission affects the neighbor nodes of both the sender and receiver of
the link. In a path having multiple links, transmission at a particular link affects one
upstream link and one downstream link. This traffic at any given link (or path) due to
the traffic through neighboring links (or paths) is referred to as induced traffic.
2) List the issues in designing a transport layer protocol for ad hoc wireless networks.
• Induced traffic
• Induced throughput unfairness
• Separation of congestion control, reliability, and flow control
• Power and bandwidth constraints
• Misinterpretation of congestion
• Completely decoupled transport layer
• Dynamic topology
3) What is Dynamic Topology?
Dynamic Topologies is a concept where networks can adapt their topology to traffic
load by disabling unused nodes and links.
4) Define TCP and list its uses.
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is one of the main protocols of the Internet
protocol suite. It lies between the Application and Network Layers which are used in
providing reliable delivery services. It is a connection-oriented protocol for
communications that helps in the exchange of messages between different devices over
a network.
5) Classify TCP over Ad hoc wireless networks.
• Split approach
• End-to-end approach
6) What is called a slow start in traditional TCP?
The TCP sender starts the session with a congestion window value of one MSS. It sends
out one MSS and waits for the ACK. Once the ACK is received within the
retransmission timeout period, the congestion window is doubled and two MSSs are
originated. This doubling of the congestion window with every successful
acknowledgment of all the segments in the current congestion window, is called slow-
start.
7) Define fast retransmit scheme
The TCP sender also assumes a packet loss if it receives three consecutives duplicate
ACKs (DUPACKs) [repeated acknowledgments for the same TCP segment that was
successfully received in-order at the receiver]. Upon reception of three DUPACKs, the
TCP sender retransmits the oldest unacknowledged segment. This is called the fast
retransmit scheme.
8) Define congestion avoidance.
This linear growth, which continues until the congestion window reaches the receiver
window (which is advertised by the TCP receiver and carries the information about the
receiver’s buffer size), is called congestion avoidance.
9) Give the uses of sliding-window-based transmission
The use of a sliding window can also contribute to degraded performance in bandwidth
constrained ad hoc wireless networks where the MAC layer protocol may not exhibit
short-term and long-term fairness.
10) Define congestion window
TCP congestion control is a method used by the TCP protocol to manage data flow over
a network and prevent congestion. TCP uses a congestion window and congestion
policy that avoids congestion.
11) What is Feedback-Based TCP.
Feedback-based TCP proposes modifications to the traditional TCP for improving
performance in ad hoc wireless networks. It uses a feedback-based approach.
12) Define failure point (FP).
In TCP-F, an intermediate node, upon detection of a path break, originates a route
failure notification (RFN) packet. The intermediate node that originates the RFN packet
is called the failure point (FP).
13) What are the different states in feedback-based TCP
• Snooze state
• Connected state
14) What is TCP-bus
TCP-BuS was proposed, with associativity-based routing (ABR) protocol as the
routing scheme. Hence, it makes use of some of the special messages such as localized
query (LQ) and REPLY, defined as part of ABR for finding a partial path. These
messages are modified to carry TCP connection and segment information.
15) List an advantage and disadvantage of TCP-bus
The advantages of TCP-BuS include performance improvement and avoidance of
fast retransmission due to the use of buffering, sequence numbering, and selective
acknowledgement.
The dependency of TCP-BuS on the routing protocol may degrade its performance with
other routing protocols that do not have similar control messages as in ABR.
16) What are the different states in Ad hoc TCP(ATCP)
• NORMAL
• CONGESTED
• LOSS
• DISCONN.
17) List out the actions taken by ATCP
• Retransmits the lost packets without reducing congestion window
• Makes the TCP sender go to persist state and stop transmission until new route
has been found
• Makes the TCP sender go to persist state and stop transmission until new route
has been found
• Maintains TCP sender unaware of this and retransmits the packets from TCP
buffer
• Recomputes the congestion window
18) What is channel capturing effect
MAC protocols such as IEEE 802.11, which are found to give a higher throughput
for certain link-level sessions, leading to an effect known as channel capture effect.
This effect leads to certain flows capturing the channel for longer time durations,
thereby reducing throughput for other flows.
19) Point out an advantage and disadvantage of split-TCP
Split-TCP has the following advantages:
• improved throughput
• improved throughput fairness
• lessened impact of mobility.
The disadvantages of split-TCP can be listed as follows:
• requires modifications to TCP protocol
• end-to-end connection handling of traditional TCP is violated
 • failure of proxy nodes can lead to throughput degradation

20) Define QoS

Quality of service (QoS) is the performance level of a service offered by the network
to the user. The goal of QoS provisioning is to achieve a more deterministic network
behavior, so that information carried by the network can be better delivered and network
resources can be better utilized.
21) List out the issues and challenges in providing in QoS in ad hoc wireless network
• Dynamically varying network topology
• Imprecise state information
• Lack of central coordination
• Error-prone shared radio channel
• Hidden terminal problem
22) What are the categories of QoS approach.
The QoS provisioning approaches can be broadly classified into two categories: hard
QoS and soft QoS approaches.
23) Specify the usage of MAC protocol.
The MAC protocol determines which node should transmit next on the broadcast
channel when several nodes are competing for transmission on that channel.
24) Depict the use of TDMA scheme
The time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme is used within a cluster for
controlling access to the channel. Further, it is possible for multiple sessions to
share a given TDMA slot via code division multiple access (CDMA).
25) What is Back-off time?
The back-off time is given by Back − off Time = rand(0,CW) × slottime, where slottime
includes the time needed for a station to detect a frame, the propagation delay, the time
needed to switch from the receiving state to the transmitting state, and the time to signal
to the MAC layer the state of the channel.
26) List four QoS routing protocol.
• Ticket-based QoS routing
• Predictive location-based QoS routing protocol (PLBQR)
• Trigger-based (on-demand) distributed QoS routing (TDR)
27) What is Bandwidth Routing Protocol.
The bandwidth routing (BR) protocol consists of an end-to-end path bandwidth
calculation algorithm to inform the source node of the available bandwidth to any
destination in the ad hoc network, a bandwidth reservation algorithm to reserve a
sufficient number of free slots for the QoS flow, and a standby routing algorithm to
reestablish the QoS flow in case of path breaks
28) Point out an advantage and disadvantage of on-demand QoS Routing Protocol.
OQR protocol uses an on-demand resource reservation scheme and hence produces
lower control overhead. Since it uses the CDMA-over-TDMA channel model, the
network needs to be fully synchronized. Further, the on-demand nature of route
discovery process leads to higher connection setup time.
29) What is the usage of QoS framework?
A framework for QoS is a complete system that attempts to provide required/promised
services to each user or application. All components within this system cooperate in
providing the required services. The key component of any QoS framework is the QoS
service model which defines the way user requirements are met.
30) What is packet scheduler?
The packet scheduler is the traffic control module that regulates how much data an
application (or flow) is allowed, essentially enforcing QOS parameters that are set for
a particular flow.
31) What are the key components of INSIGNIA framework?
• Routing module
• In-band signaling
• Admission control
• Packet forwarding
• Medium access control
32) Define crossover-time
Crossover-time is defined as the time at which a node crosses another node’s data
transmission range r. This event is defined as crossover. There are two different
crossover-times, namely, crossover-time-in and crossover-time-out.
 8 MARKS

1) Issues in Designing a Transport Layer Protocol.

2) Design Goals of a Transport Layer Protocol.
3) Classification of Transport Layer Solutions.
4) Issues and Challenges in Providing QoS in Ad-hoc Wireless Networks.
5) Classification of QoS Solutions.

Answers:
1.Some of the issues to be considered while designing a transport layer protocol for ad hoc
wireless networks are,

Induced traffic: Unlike wired networks, ad hoc wireless networks utilize multi-hop radio
relaying. A link-level transmission affects the neighbour nodes of both the sender and receiver
of the link. In a path having multiple links, transmission at a particular link affects one upstream
link and one downstream link. This traffic at any given link (or path) due to the traffic through
neighbouring links (or paths) is referred to as induced traffic. This is due to the broadcast nature
of the channel and the location-dependent contention on the channel. This induced traffic
affects the throughput achieved by the transport layer protocol.

Induced throughput unfairness: This refers to the throughput unfairness at the transport layer
due to the throughput/delay unfairness existing at the lower layers such as the network and
MAC layers. For example, an ad hoc wireless network that uses IEEE 802.11 DCF as the MAC
protocol may experience throughput unfairness at the transport layer as well. A transport layer
protocol should consider these in order to provide a fair share of throughput across contending
flows.

Separation of congestion control, reliability, and flow control: A transport layer protocol
can provide better performance if end-to-end reliability, flow control, and congestion control
are handled separately. Reliability and flow control are end-to-end activities, whereas
congestion can at times be a local activity. The transport layer flow can experience congestion
with just one intermediate link under congestion. Hence, in networks such as ad hoc wireless
networks, the performance of the transport layer may be improved if these are separately
handled. While separating these, the most important objective to be considered is the
minimization of the additional control overhead generated by them.

Power and bandwidth constraints: Nodes in ad hoc wireless networks face resource
constraints including the two most important resources: (i) power source and (ii) bandwidth.
The performance of a transport layer protocol is significantly affected by these constraints.

Misinterpretation of congestion: Traditional mechanisms of detecting congestion in

networks, such as packet loss and retransmission timeout, are not suitable for detecting the
network congestion in ad hoc wireless networks. This is because the high error rates of wireless
channel, location-dependent contention, hidden terminal problem, packet collisions in the
network, path breaks due to the mobility of nodes, and node failure due to a drained battery
can also lead to packet loss in ad hoc wireless networks. Hence, interpretation of network
congestion as used in traditional networks is not appropriate in ad hoc wireless networks.

Completely decoupled transport layer: Another challenge faced by a transport layer protocol
is the interaction with the lower layers. Wired network transport layer protocols are almost
completely decoupled from the lower layers. In ad hoc wireless networks, the cross-layer
interaction between the transport layer and lower layers such as the network layer and the MAC
layer is important for the transport layer to adapt to the changing network environment.

Dynamic topology: Some of the deployment scenarios of ad hoc wireless networks experience
rapidly changing network topology due to the mobility of nodes. This can lead to frequent path
breaks, partitioning and reemerging of networks, and high delay in reestablishment of paths.
Hence, the performance of a transport layer protocol is significantly affected by the rapid
changes in the network topology.

2. The following are the important goals to be met while designing a transport layer protocol
for ad hoc wireless networks:
• The protocol should maximize the throughput per connection.
• It should provide throughput fairness across contending flows.
• The protocol should incur minimum connection setup and connection maintenance
overheads. It should minimize the resource requirements for setting up and maintaining
the connection in order to make the protocol scalable in large networks.
• The transport layer protocol should have mechanisms for congestion control and flow
control in the network.
• It should be able to provide both reliable and unreliable connections as per the
requirements of the application layer.
• The protocol should be able to adapt to the dynamics of the network such as the rapid
change in topology and changes in the nature of wireless links from unidirectional to
bidirectional or vice versa.
• One of the important resources, the available bandwidth, must be used efficiently.
• The protocol should be aware of resource constraints such as battery power and buffer
sizes and make efficient use of them.
• The transport layer protocol should make use of information from the lower layers in
the protocol stack for improving the network throughput.
• It should have a well-defined cross-layer interaction framework for effective, scalable,
and protocol-independent interaction with lower layers.
• The protocol should maintain end-to-end semantics.

3. Figure 9.1 shows a classification tree for some of the transport layer protocols discussed in
this chapter. The top-level classification divides the protocols as extensions of TCP for ad hoc
wireless networks and other transport layer protocols which are not based on TCP. The
solutions for TCP over ad hoc wireless networks can further be classified into split approaches
and end-to-end approaches.

4 . Providing QoS support in ad hoc wireless networks is an active research area. Ad hoc
wireless networks have certain unique characteristics that pose several difficulties in
provisioning QoS. Some of the characteristics are dynamically varying network topology, lack
of precise state information, lack of a central controller, errorprone shared radio channel,
limited resource availability, hidden terminal problem, and insecure medium. A detailed
discussion on how each of the above-mentioned characteristics affects QoS provisioning in ad
hoc wireless networks is given below.

Dynamically varying network topology: Since the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network do
not have any restriction on mobility, the network topology changes dynamically. Hence, the
admitted QoS sessions may suffer due to frequent path breaks, thereby requiring such sessions
to be reestablished over new paths. The delay incurred in reestablishing a QoS session may
cause some of the packets belonging to that session to miss their delay targets/deadlines, which
is not acceptable for applications that have stringent QoS requirements.

Imprecise state information: In most cases, the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network maintain
both the link-specific state information and flow-specific state information. The link-specific
state information includes bandwidth, delay, delay jitter, loss rate, error rate, stability, cost, and
distance values for each link. The flow-specific information includes session ID, source
address, destination address, and QoS requirements of the flow (such as maximum bandwidth
requirement, minimum bandwidth requirement, maximum delay, and maximum delay jitter).
The state information is inherently imprecise due to dynamic changes in network topology and
channel characteristics. Hence, routing decisions may not be accurate, resulting in some of the
real-time packets missing their deadlines.

Lack of central coordination: Unlike wireless LANs and cellular networks, ad hoc wireless
networks do not have central controllers to coordinate the activity of nodes. This further
complicates QoS provisioning in ad hoc wireless networks.
Error-prone shared radio channel: The radio channel is a broadcast medium by nature.
During propagation through the wireless medium, the radio waves suffer from several
impairments such as attenuation, multipath propagation, and interference (from other wireless
devices operating in the vicinity) as discussed in Chapter 1.

Hidden terminal problem: The hidden terminal problem is inherent in ad hoc wireless
networks. This problem occurs when packets originating from two or more sender nodes, which
are not within the direct transmission range of each other, collide at a common receiver node.
It necessitates the retransmission of the packets, which may not be acceptable for flows that
have stringent QoS requirements. The RTS/CTS control packet exchange mechanism,
proposed in [1] and adopted later in the IEEE 802.11 standard [2], reduces the hidden terminal
problem only to a certain extent. BTMA and DBTMA provide two important solutions for this
problem, which are described in Chapter 6.

Limited resource availability: Resources such as bandwidth, battery life, storage space, and
processing capability are limited in ad hoc wireless networks. Out of these, bandwidth and
battery life are critical resources, the availability of which significantly affects the performance
of the QoS provisioning mechanism. Hence, efficient resource management mechanisms are
required for optimal utilization of these scarce resources.

Insecure medium: Due to the broadcast nature of the wireless medium, communication
through a wireless channel is highly insecure. Therefore, security is an important issue in ad
hoc wireless networks, especially for military and tactical applications. Ad hoc wireless
networks are susceptible to attacks such as eavesdropping, spoofing, denial of service, message
distortion, and impersonation. Without sophisticated security mechanisms, it is very difficult
to provide secure communication guarantees.

5. The QoS solutions can be classified in two ways. One classification is based on the QoS
approach employed, while the other one classifies QoS solutions based on the layer at which
they operate in the network protocol stack.

Classification of QoS Approaches:

As shown in Figure 10.2, several criteria are used for classifying QoS approaches. The QoS
approaches can be classified based on the interaction between the routing protocol and the QoS
provisioning mechanism, based on the interaction between the network and the MAC layers,
or based on the routing information update mechanism. Based on the interaction between the
routing protocol and the QoS provisioning mechanism, QoS approaches can be classified into
two categories: coupled and decoupled QoS approaches. In the case of the coupled QoS
approach, the routing protocol and the QoS provisioning mechanism closely interact with each
other for delivering QoS guarantees. If the routing protocol changes, it may fail to ensure QoS
guarantees. But in the case of the decoupled approach, the QoS provisioning mechanism does
not depend on any specific routing protocol to ensure QoS guarantees.
Similarly, based on the interaction between the routing protocol and the MAC protocol, QoS
approaches can be classified into two categories: independent and dependent QoS approaches.
In the independent QoS approach, the network layer is not dependent on the MAC layer for
QoS provisioning. The dependent QoS approach requires the MAC layer to assist the routing
protocol for QoS provisioning. Finally, based on the routing information update mechanism
employed, QoS approaches can be classified into three categories, namely, table-driven, on-
demand, and hybrid QoS approaches. In the table-driven approach, each node in the network
maintains a routing table which aids in forwarding packets. In the on-demand approach, no
such tables are maintained at the nodes, and hence the source node has to discover the route on
the fly. The hybrid approach incorporates features of both the table-driven and the on-demand
approaches.

Layer-Wise Classification of Existing QoS Solutions:

The existing QoS solutions can also be classified based on which layer in the network protocol
stack they operate in. Figure 10.3 gives a layer-wise classification of QoS solutions. The figure
also shows some of the cross-layer QoS solutions proposed for ad hoc wireless networks. The
following sections describe the various QoS solutions listed in Figure 10.3.
 12 MARKS
1. Issues and Challenges in Providing QOS in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks.?
Providing QoS support in ad hoc wireless networks is an active research area. Ad hoc wireless
networks have certain unique characteristics that pose several difficulties in provisioning QoS.
Some of the characteristics are dynamically varying network topology, lack of precise state
information, lack of a central controller, error-prone shared radio channel, limited resource
availability, hidden terminal problem and insecure medium. A detailed discussion on how each
of the above-mentioned characteristics affects QoS provisioning in ad hoc wireless networks
is given below:
• Dynamically varying network topology:
Since the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network do not have any restriction on mobility, the
network topology changes dynamically. Hence, the admitted QoS sessions may suffer due to
frequent path breaks, thereby requiring such sessions to be reestablished over new paths. The
delay incurred in reestablishing a QoS session may cause some of the packets belonging to that
session to miss their delay targets/deadlines, which is not acceptable for applications that have
stringent QoS requirements.
• Imprecise state information:
In most cases, the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network maintain both the link-specific state
information and flow-specific state information. The link-specific state information includes
bandwidth, delay, delay jitter, loss rate, error rate, stability, cost, and distance values for each
link. The flow-specific information includes session ID, source address, destination address,
and QoS requirements of the flow (such as maximum bandwidth requirement, minimum
bandwidth requirement, maximum delay, and maximum delay jitter). The state information is
inherently imprecise due to dynamic changes in network topology and channel characteristics.
Hence, routing decisions may not be accurate, resulting in some of the real-time packets
missing their deadlines.
• Lack of central coordination:
Unlike wireless LANs and cellular networks, ad hoc wireless networks do not have central
controllers to coordinate the activity of nodes. This further complicates QoS provisioning in ad
hoc wireless networks. The radio channel is a broadcast medium by nature. During propagation
through the wireless medium, the radio waves suffer from several impairments such as
attenuation, multipath propagation, and interference (from other wireless devices in the
vicinity)
• Hidden terminal problem:
The hidden terminal problem is inherent in ad hoc wireless networks. This problem occurs
when packets originating from two or more sender nodes, which are not within the direct
transmission range of each other, collide at a common receiver node.
2. Why Does TCP Not Perform Well in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks?
The major reasons behind throughput degradation that TCP faces when used in ad hoc wireless
networks are the following:
• Misinterpretation of packet loss: Traditional TCP was designed for wired networks where
the packet loss is mainly attributed to network congestion. Network congestion is detected by
the sender’s packet RTO period. Once a packet loss is detected, the sender node assumes
congestion in the network and invokes a congestion control algorithm. Ad hoc wireless
networks experience a much higher packet loss due to factors such as high bit error rate (BER)
in the wireless channel, increased collisions due to the presence of hidden terminals, presence
of interference, location-dependent contention, unidirectional links, frequent path breaks due
to mobility of nodes, and the inherent fading properties of the wireless channel.
• Frequent path breaks: Ad hoc wireless networks experience dynamic changes in network
topology because of the unrestricted mobility of the nodes in the network. The topology
changes lead to frequent changes in the connectivity of wireless links and hence the route to a
particular destination may need to be recomputed very often. The responsibility of finding a
route and reestablishing it once it gets broken is attached to the network layer. Once a path is
broken, the routing protocol initiates a router establishment process. This route reestablishment
process takes a significant amount of time to obtain a new route to the destination. The route
reestablishment time is a function of the number of nodes in the network, transmission ranges
of nodes, current topology of the network.
• Effect of path length: It is found that the TCP throughput degrades rapidly with an increase
in path length in string (linear chain) topology ad hoc wireless networks. The possibility of a
path break increases with path length. Given that the probability of a link break is pl, the
probability of a path break (pb) for a path of length k can be obtained as pb = 1 − (1 − pl) k.
Figure 9.4 shows the variation of pb with path length for pl = 0.1. Hence as the path length
increases, the probability of a path break increases, resulting in the degradation of the
throughput in the network.
• Misinterpretation of congestion window: TCP considers the congestion window as a
measure of the rate of transmission that is acceptable to the network and the receiver. In ad hoc
wireless networks, the congestion control mechanism is invoked when the network gets
partitioned or when a path break occurs. This reduces the congestion window and increases the
RTO period. When the route is reconfigured, the congestion window may not reflect the
transmission rate acceptable to the new route, as the new route may actually accept a much
higher transmission rate. Hence, when there is frequent path.
3. NETWORK SECURITY REQUIREMENTS?
A security protocol for ad hoc wireless networks should satisfy the following requirements.
The requirements listed below should in fact be met by security protocols for other types of
networks also.
• Confidentiality: The data sent by the sender (source node) must be comprehensible only to
the intended receiver (destination node). Though an intruder might get hold of the data being
sent, he/she must not be able to derive any useful information out of the data. One of the popular
techniques used for ensuring confidentiality is data encryption.
• Integrity: The data sent by the source node should reach the destination node as it was sent:
unaltered. In other words, it should not be possible for any malicious node in the network to
tamper with the data during transmission.
• Availability: The network should remain operational all the time. It must be robust enough
to tolerate link failures and also be capable of surviving various attacks mounted on it. It should
be able to provide the guaranteed services whenever an authorized user requires them.
• Non-repudiation: non-repudiation is a mechanism to guarantee that the sender of a message
cannot later deny having sent the message and that the recipient cannot deny having received
the message. Digital signatures, which function as unique identifiers for each user, much like
a written signature, are used commonly for this purpose. Network Layer Attacks This section
lists and gives brief descriptions of the attacks pertaining to the network layer in the network
protocol stack.
• Wormhole attack: In this attack, an attacker receives packets at one location in the network
and tunnels them (possibly selectively) to another location in the network, where the packets
are resent into the network. This tunnel between two colluding attackers is referred to as a
wormhole. It could be established through a single long-range wireless link or even through a
wired link between the two colluding attackers. Due to the broadcast nature of the radio
channel, the attacker can create a wormhole even for packets not ad-dressed to itself. Though
no harm is done if the wormhole is used properly for
efficient relaying of packets, it puts the attacker in a powerful position com-pared to other
nodes in the network, which the attacker could use in a manner that could compromise the
security of the network. If proper mechanisms are not employed to defend the network against
wormhole attacks, most of the existing routing protocols for ad hoc wireless networks may fail
to find valid routes.
• Black hole attack: In this attack, a malicious node falsely advertises good paths (e.g., shortest
path or most stable path) to the destination node during the path-finding process (in on-demand
routing protocols) or in the route update messages (in table-driven routing protocols). The
intention of the malicious node could be to hinder the path-finding process or to intercept all
data packets being sent to the destination node concerned.
• Byzantine attack: Here, a compromised intermediate node or a set of com-promised
intermediate nodes works in collusion and carries out attacks such as creating routing loops,
routing packets on non-optimal paths, and selectively dropping packets [. Byzantine failures
are hard to detect. The network would seem to be operating normally in the viewpoint of the
nodes, though it may actually be exhibiting Byzantine behaviour.
• Information disclosure: A compromised node may leak confidential or important
information to unauthorized nodes in the network. Such information may include information
regarding the network topology, geographic location of nodes, or optimal routes to authorized
nodes in the network.
• Resource consumption attack: In this attack, a malicious node tries to consume/waste away
resources of other nodes present in the network.

4. What is IEEE 802.11e?

In this section, the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol is first described. Then, the recently proposed
mechanisms for QoS support, namely, enhanced distributed coordination function (EDCF) and
hybrid coordination function (HCF), defined in the IEEE 802.11e draft, are discussed.
IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol The 802.11 MAC protocol, describes how a station present in a
WLAN should access the broadcast channel for transmitting data to other stations. It supports
two modes of operation, namely, distributed coordination function (DCF) and point
coordination function (PCF). The DCF mode does not use any kind of centralized control,
while the PCF mode requires an access point (AP, i.e., central controller) to coordinate the
activity of all nodes in its coverage area. All implementations of the 802.11 standard for
WLANs must provide the DCF mode of operation, while the PCF mode of operation is
optional. The time interval between the transmission of two consecutive frames is called the
inter-frame space (IFS). There are four IFSs defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard, namely, short
IFS (SIFS), PCF IFS (PIFS), DCF IFS (DIFS), and extended IFS (EIFS). The relationship
among them is as follows: SIF S < P IF S < DIF S < EIF S

Distributed Coordination Function:

In the DCF mode, all stations are allowed to contend for the shared medium simultaneously.
CSMA/CA mechanism and random back-off scheme are used to reduce frame collisions. Each
unicast frame is acknowledged immediately after being received. If the acknowledgment is not
received within the timeout period, the data frame is retransmitted. Broadcast frames do not
require acknowledgments from the receiving stations. If a station A wants to transmit data to
station B, station A listens to the channel. If the channel is busy, it waits until the channel
becomes idle. After detecting the idle channel, station A further waits for a DIFS period and
invokes a back-off procedure. The back-off time is given by
Back − off Time = rand (0, CW) × slottime
where slottime includes the time needed for a station to detect a frame, the propagation delay,
the time needed to switch from the receiving state to the transmitting state, and the time to
signal to the MAC layer the state of the channel. The function rand(0, CW) returns a pseudo-
random integer from a uniform distribution over an interval [0, CW]. The current value of the
contention window (CW) plays an important role in determining the back-off period of the
station. The initial value of CW is CWmin. If a collision occurs, the value of CW is doubled.
As the number of collisions increases, the value of CW is increased exponentially in order to
reduce the chance of collision occurrence. The maximum value of CW is CWmax. The values
of CWmin and CWmax specified by the IEEE 802.11. After detecting the channel as being idle
for a DIFS period, station A starts decrementing the back-off counter. If it senses the channel
as busy during this count-down process, it suspends the back-off counter till it again detects
the channel as being idle for a DIFS period. Station A then continues the count-down process,
where it suspended the back-off counter. Once the back-off counter reaches zero, station A
transmits a request-to-send (RTS) frame and waits for a clear-to-send (CTS) frame from the
receiver B. If other stations do not cause any interference, station B acknowledges the RTS
frame by sending a CTS frame. Upon receiving the CTS frame, station A transmits its data
frame, the reception of which is acknowledged by receiver B by sending an ACK frame. In the
above scenario, if another station C apart from station A also senses the channel as being idle
(i.e., stations A and C sense the channel as being idle and the back-off counters set by them
expire at the same time) and transmits an RTS frame, a collision occurs and both the stations
initiate back-off procedures. If the size of the MAC frame, that is, MAC service data unit
(MSDU),4 is greater than the fragmentation threshold, it is fragmented into smaller frames,
that is, MAC protocol data units (MPDUs),5 before transmission, and each MPDU has to be
acknowledged separately. Once an MSDU is transmitted successfully, CW is reset to CWmin.
The RTS/CTS control frame exchange helps in reducing the
hidden terminal problem inherent in CSMA-based ad hoc wireless networks. Point
Coordination Function The IEEE 802.11 standard incorporates an optional access method
known as PCF to let stations have priority access to the wireless medium. This access method
uses a point coordinator (PC), which operates at an AP. Hence PCF is usable only in
infrastructure-based network configurations. A station which requires the PCF mode of
operation sends an association message to the PC to register in its polling list and gets an
association identifier (AID). The PC polls the stations registered in its polling list in ascending
order of AIDs to allow them contention-free access to the medium. The role of the PC is to
determine which station should gain access to the channel. The stations requesting the PCF
mode of operation get associated with the PC during the contention period (CP). With PCF,
the channel access alternates between the contention-free period (CFP) and the contention
period (CP) for the PCF and DCF modes of operation, respectively.
5.Ticket-Based QoS Routing Protocol?
Ticket-based QoS routing is a distributed QoS routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks.
This protocol has the following features:
• It can tolerate imprecise state information during QoS route computation and exhibits good
performance even when the degree of imprecision is high.
• It probes multiple paths in parallel for finding a QoS feasible path. This increases the chance
of finding such a path. The number of multiple paths searched is limited by the number of
tickets issued in the probe packet by the source node. State information maintained at
intermediate nodes is used for more accurate route probing. An intelligent hop-by-hop selection
mechanism is used for finding feasible paths efficiently.
• The optimality of a path among several feasible paths is explored. A low-cost path that uses
minimum resources is preferred when multiple feasible path is available.
•primary-backup-based fault-tolerant technique is used to reduce service disruption during path
breaks that occur quite frequently in ad hoc wireless networks.
Protocol Overview
The basic idea of the ticket-based probing protocol is that the source node issues a certain
number of tickets and sends these tickets in probe packets for finding a QoS feasible path. Each
probe packet carries one or more tickets. Each ticket corresponds to one instance of the probe.
For example, when the source node issues three tickets, it means that a maximum of three paths
can be probed in parallel.
The number of tickets generated is based on the precision of state information available at the
source node and the QoS requirements of the connection request.
If the available state information is not precise or if the QoS requirements are very stringent,
more tickets are issued in order to improve the chances of finding a feasible path. If the QoS
requirements are not stringent and can be met easily, fewer tickets are issued in order to reduce
the level of search, which in turn reduces the control overhead. There exists a trade-off here
between the performance of the QoS routing protocol and the control overhead. The state
information, at the source node, about intermediate nodes is useful in finding a much better
QoS path, even if such information is not precise. The state information maintained at each
node is comprised of estimations of end-to-end delay and available path bandwidth for every
other node present in the network.
When an intermediate node receives a probe packet, it is either split to explore more than one
path or is forwarded to just one neighbour node based on the state information available at that
intermediate node.
Based on the idea of ticket-based probing, two heuristic algorithms are proposed, one for delay-
constrained QoS routing, and the other for bandwidth-constrained QoS routing. In delay-
constrained QoS routing, each probe accumulates the delay of the path it has traversed so far.
In other words, if an intermediate node A receives a probe packet (PKT) from a neighbour node
B, node A updates the delay field in PKT by adding delay value of the link between nodes B
and A. Then node A determines the list of candidate neighbors to which it has to send probe
packets. It distributes tickets present in PKT among these new probe packets and then forwards
these probe packets to the respective candidate neighbors. If multiple probe packets arrive at
the destination node (with each carrying the list of intermediate nodes along its path), node A
selects the path with least cost as the primary path and the other paths as the backup paths
which will be used when the primary path is broken due to the mobility of intermediate nodes.
Optimizing Cost of a Feasible Path
This protocol searches for the lowest cost path among the feasible paths. This is done during
the QoS path probing. The source node issues two types of tickets, yellow tickets and green
tickets, and sends them along with probe packets. Yellow tickets prefer paths that satisfy the
requirement of a probe in terms of QoS metrics.
 20 MARKS

1) Elaborate the issues in designing and design goals of Transport Layer Protocol?
Some of the issues to be considered while designing a transport layer protocol for ad hoc
wireless networks are,
Induced traffic: Unlike wired networks, ad hoc wireless networks utilize multi-hop radio
relaying. A link-level transmission affects the neighbour nodes of both the sender and receiver
of the link. In a path having multiple links, transmission at a particular link affects one upstream
link and one downstream link. This traffic at any given link (or path) due to the traffic through
neighbouring links (or paths) is referred to as induced traffic. This is due to the broadcast nature
of the channel and the location-dependent contention on the channel. This induced traffic
affects the throughput achieved by the transport layer protocol.

Induced throughput unfairness: This refers to the throughput unfairness at the transport
layer due to the throughput/delay unfairness existing at the lower layers such as the network
and MAC layers. For example, an ad hoc wireless network that uses IEEE 802.11 DCF as the
MAC protocol may experience throughput unfairness at the transport layer as well. A transport
layer protocol should consider these in order to provide a fair share of throughput across
contending flows.

Separation of congestion control, reliability, and flow control: A transport layer protocol
can provide better performance if end-to-end reliability, flow control, and congestion control
are handled separately. Reliability and flow control are end-to-end activities, whereas
congestion can at times be a local activity. The transport layer flow can experience congestion
with just one intermediate link under congestion. Hence, in networks such as ad hoc wireless
networks, the performance of the transport layer may be improved if these are separately
handled. While separating these, the most important objective to be considered is the
minimization of the additional control overhead generated by them.

Power and bandwidth constraints: Nodes in ad hoc wireless networks face resource
constraints including the two most important resources: (i) power source and (ii) bandwidth.
The performance of a transport layer protocol is significantly affected by these constraints.

Misinterpretation of congestion: Traditional mechanisms of detecting congestion in

networks, such as packet loss and retransmission timeout, are not suitable for detecting the
network congestion in ad hoc wireless networks. This is because the high error rates of wireless
channel, location-dependent contention, hidden terminal problem, packet collisions in the
network, path breaks due to the mobility of nodes, and node failure due to a drained battery
can also lead to packet loss in ad hoc wireless networks. Hence, interpretation of network
congestion as used in traditional networks is not appropriate in ad hoc wireless networks.
Completely decoupled transport layer: Another challenge faced by a transport layer protocol
is the interaction with the lower layers. Wired network transport layer protocols are almost
completely decoupled from the lower layers. In ad hoc wireless networks, the cross-layer
interaction between the transport layer and lower layers such as the network layer and the MAC
layer is important for the transport layer to adapt to the changing network environment.

Dynamic topology: Some of the deployment scenarios of ad hoc wireless networks experience
rapidly changing network topology due to the mobility of nodes. This can lead to frequent path
breaks, partitioning and reemerging of networks, and high delay in reestablishment of paths.
Hence, the performance of a transport layer protocol is significantly affected by the rapid
changes in the network topology.

Power and bandwidth constraints: Nodes in ad hoc wireless networks face resource
constraints including the two most important resources: (i) power source and (ii) bandwidth.
The performance of a transport layer protocol is significantly affected by these constraints.

Misinterpretation of congestion: Traditional mechanisms of detecting congestion in

networks, such as packet loss and retransmission timeout, are not suitable for detecting the
network congestion in ad hoc wireless networks. This is because the high error rates of wireless
channel, location-dependent contention, hidden terminal problem, packet collisions in the
network, path breaks due to the mobility of nodes, and node failure due to a drained battery
can also lead to packet loss in ad hoc wireless networks. Hence, interpretation of network
congestion as used in traditional networks is not appropriate in ad hoc wireless networks.

Completely decoupled transport layer: Another challenge faced by a transport layer protocol
is the interaction with the lower layers. Wired network transport layer protocols are almost
completely decoupled from the lower layers. In ad hoc wireless networks, the cross-layer
interaction between the transport layer and lower layers such as the network layer and the MAC
layer is important for the transport layer to adapt to the changing network environment.

Dynamic topology: Some of the deployment scenarios of ad hoc wireless networks experience
rapidly changing network topology due to the mobility of nodes. This can lead to frequent path
breaks, partitioning and reemerging of networks, and high delay in reestablishment of paths.
Hence, the performance of a transport layer protocol is significantly affected by the rapid
changes in the network topology.

The following are the important goals to be met while designing a transport layer protocol for
ad hoc wireless networks:
• The protocol should maximize the throughput per connection.
• It should provide throughput fairness across contending flows.
• The protocol should incur minimum connection setup and connection maintenance
overheads. It should minimize the resource requirements for setting up and maintaining
the connection in order to make the protocol scalable in large networks.
 • The transport layer protocol should have mechanisms for congestion control and flow
control in the network.
• It should be able to provide both reliable and unreliable connections as per the
requirements of the application layer.
• The protocol should be able to adapt to the dynamics of the network such as the rapid
change in topology and changes in the nature of wireless links from unidirectional to
bidirectional or vice versa.
• One of the important resources, the available bandwidth, must be used efficiently.
• The protocol should be aware of resource constraints such as battery power and buffer
sizes and make efficient use of them.
• The transport layer protocol should make use of information from the lower layers in
the protocol stack for improving the network throughput.
• It should have a well-defined cross-layer interaction framework for effective, scalable,
and protocol-independent interaction with lower layers.
• The protocol should maintain end-to-end semantics.

2) What is Quality of Services in Ad hoc Wireless Network? Expalin the issues and
challenges and classification of Ad hoc Wireless Network?
Quality of service (QoS) is the performance level of a service offered by the network to the
user. The goal of QoS provisioning is to achieve a more deterministic network behavior, so
that information carried by the network can be better delivered and network resources can be
better utilized. A network or a service provider can offer different kinds of services to the users.
Providing QoS support in ad hoc wireless networks is an active research area. Ad hoc wireless
networks have certain unique characteristics that pose several difficulties in provisioning QoS.
Some of the characteristics are dynamically varying network topology, lack of precise state
information, lack of a central controller, error-prone shared radio channel, limited resource
availability, hidden terminal problem and insecure medium. A detailed discussion on how each
of the above-mentioned characteristics affects QoS provisioning in ad hoc wireless networks
is given below:
• Dynamically varying network topology:
Since the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network do not have any restriction on mobility, the
network topology changes dynamically. Hence, the admitted QoS sessions may suffer due to
frequent path breaks, thereby requiring such sessions to be reestablished over new paths. The
delay incurred in reestablishing a QoS session may cause some of the packets belonging to that
session to miss their delay targets/deadlines, which is not acceptable for applications that have
stringent QoS requirements.
• Imprecise state information:
In most cases, the nodes in an ad hoc wireless network maintain both the link-specific state
information and flow-specific state information. The link-specific state information includes
bandwidth, delay, delay jitter, loss rate, error rate, stability, cost, and distance values for each
link. The flow-specific information includes session ID, source address, destination address,
and QoS requirements of the flow (such as maximum bandwidth requirement, minimum
bandwidth requirement, maximum delay, and maximum delay jitter). The state information is
inherently imprecise due to dynamic changes in network topology and channel characteristics.
Hence, routing decisions may not be accurate, resulting in some of the real-time packets
missing their deadlines.
• Lack of central coordination:
Unlike wireless LANs and cellular networks, ad hoc wireless networks do not have central
controllers to coordinate the activity of nodes. This further complicates QoS provisioning in ad
hoc wireless networks. The radio channel is a broadcast medium by nature. During propagation
through the wireless medium, the radio waves suffer from several impairments such as
attenuation, multipath propagation, and interference (from other wireless devices in the
vicinity)
• Hidden terminal problem:
The hidden terminal problem is inherent in ad hoc wireless networks. This problem occurs
when packets originating from two or more sender nodes, which are not within the direct
transmission range of each other, collide at a common receiver node.
The QoS solutions can be classified in two ways. One classification is based on the QoS
approach employed, while the other one classifies QoS solutions based on the layer at which
they operate in the network protocol stack.

Classification of QoS Approaches:

As shown in Figure 10.2, several criteria are used for classifying QoS approaches. The QoS
approaches can be classified based on the interaction between the routing protocol and the QoS
provisioning mechanism, based on the interaction between the network and the MAC layers,
or based on the routing information update mechanism. Based on the interaction between the
routing protocol and the QoS provisioning mechanism, QoS approaches can be classified into
two categories: coupled and decoupled QoS approaches. In the case of the coupled QoS
approach, the routing protocol and the QoS provisioning mechanism closely interact with each
other for delivering QoS guarantees. If the routing protocol changes, it may fail to ensure QoS
guarantees. But in the case of the decoupled approach, the QoS provisioning mechanism does
not depend on any specific routing protocol to ensure QoS guarantees.

Similarly, based on the interaction between the routing protocol and the MAC protocol, QoS
approaches can be classified into two categories: independent and dependent QoS approaches.
In the independent QoS approach, the network layer is not dependent on the MAC layer for
QoS provisioning. The dependent QoS approach requires the MAC layer to assist the routing
protocol for QoS provisioning. Finally, based on the routing information update mechanism
employed, QoS approaches can be classified into three categories, namely, table-driven, on-
demand, and hybrid QoS approaches. In the table-driven approach, each node in the network
maintains a routing table which aids in forwarding packets. In the on-demand approach, no
such tables are maintained at the nodes, and hence the source node has to discover the route on
the fly. The hybrid approach incorporates features of both the table-driven and the on-demand
approaches.

Layer-Wise Classification of Existing QoS Solutions:

The existing QoS solutions can also be classified based on which layer in the network protocol
stack they operate in. Figure 10.3 gives a layer-wise classification of QoS solutions. The figure
also shows some of the cross-layer QoS solutions proposed for ad hoc wireless networks. The
following sections describe the various QoS solutions listed in Figure 10.3.

3) Explain MAC Layer Solution and mention their protocols?

The MAC protocol determines which node should transmit next on the broadcast channel when
several nodes are competing for transmission on that channel. The existing MAC protocols for
ad hoc wireless networks use channel sensing and random back-offff schemes, making them
suitable for best-effffort data traffiffiffic. Real-time traffific (such as voice and video) requires
bandwidth guarantees. Supporting real-time traffic in these networks is a very challenging task.
In most cases, ad hoc wireless networks share a common radio channel operating in the ISM
band2 or in military bands. The most widely deployed medium access technology is the IEEE
802.11 standard. The 802.11 standard has two modes of operation: a distributed coordination
function (DCF) mode and a point coordination function (PCF) mode. The DCF mode provides
best-effort service, while the PCF mode has been designed to provide real-time traffic support
in infrastructure
based wireless network configurations. Due to lack of fixed infrastructure support, the PCF
mode of operation is ruled out in ad hoc wireless networks. Currently the IEEE 802.11 Task
Group e (TGe) is enhancing the legacy 802.11 standard to support real-time traffic. The
upcoming 802.11e standard has two other modes of operation, namely, enhanced DCF (EDCF)
and hybrid coordination function (HCF) to support QoS in both infrastructure-based and
infrastructure-less network configurations. These two modes of operation are discussed later
in this section. In addition to these standardized MAC protocols, several other MAC protocols
that provide QoS support for applications in ad hoc wireless networks have been proposed.
Some of these protocols are described below.

1.1 CLUSTER TDMA

Gerla and Tsai proposed Cluster TDMA [3] for supporting real-time traffic in ad hoc wireless
networks. In bandwidth-constrained ad hoc wireless networks, the limited resources available
need to be managed effiiciently. To achieve this goal, a dynamic clustering scheme is used in
Cluster TDMA. In this clustering approach, nodes are split into different groups. Each group
has a cluster-head (elected by members of that group), which acts as a regional broadcast node
and as a local coordinator to enhance the channel throughput. Every node within a cluster is
one hop away from the cluster-head. The formation of clusters and selection of cluster-heads
are done in a distributed manner. Clustering algorithms split the nodes into clusters so that they
are interconnected and cover all the nodes. Three such algorithms used are lowest-ID
algorithm, highest-degree (degree refers to the number of neighbors which are within
transmission range of a node) algorithm, and least cluster change (LCC) algorithm.

The time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme is used within a cluster for controlling
access to the channel. Further, it is possible for multiple sessions to share a given TDMA slot
via code division multiple access (CDMA). Across clusters, either spatial reuse of the time-
slots or different spreading codes can be used to reduce the effect of inter-cluster interference.
A synchronous time division frame is defined to support TDMA access within a cluster and to
exchange control information. Each synchronous time division frame is divided into slots. Slots
and frames are synchronized throughout the network. A frame is split into a control phase and
a data phase. In the control phase, control functions such as frame and slot synchronization,
routing, clustering, power management, code assignment, and
virtual circuit (VC) setup are done.
1.2 IEEE 802.11e
In this section, the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol is first described. Then, the recently proposed
mechanisms for QoS support, namely, enhanced distributed coordination function (EDCF) and
hybrid coordination function (HCF), defined in the IEEE 802.11e draft, are discussed.
IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol
The 802.11 MAC protocol [2], which is discussed in Chapter 2, describes how a station present
in a WLAN should access the broadcast channel for transmitting data to other stations. It
supports two modes of operation, namely, distributed coordination function (DCF) and point
coordination function (PCF). The DCF mode does not use any kind of centralized control,
while the PCF mode requires an access point (AP, i.e., central controller) to coordinate the
activity of all nodes in its coverage area. All implementations of the 802.11 standard for
WLANs must provide the DCF mode of operation, while the PCF mode of operation is
optional. The time interval between the transmission of two consecutive frames is called the
inter-frame space (IFS). There are four IFSs defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard, namely, short
IFS (SIFS), PCF IFS (PIFS), DCF IFS (DIFS), and extended IFS (EIFS). The relationship
among them is as follows:
SIF S < P IF S < DIF S < EIF S
1.3 DBASE
The distributed bandwidth allocation/sharing/extension (DBASE) protocol supports
multimedia traffic [both variable bit rate (VBR) and constant bit rate (CBR)] over ad hoc
WLANs. In an ad hoc WLAN, there is no fixed infrastructure (i.e., AP) to coordinate the
activity of individual stations. The stations are part of a single-hop wireless network and
contend for the broadcast channel in a distributed manner. For real-time traffic (rt-traffic), a
contention-based process is used in order to gain access to the channel. Once a station gains
channel access, a reservation-based process is used to transmit the subsequent frames.

4) Illustrate the Network Layer Solution?

The bandwidth reservation and real-time trafficking support capability of MAC protocols can
ensure reservation at the link level only, hence the network layer support for ensuring end-to-
end resource negotiation, reservation, and transfiguration is very essential. This section
describes the existing network layer solutions that support QoS provisioning.
QoS routing protocols search for routes with nonscientific resources in order to satisfy the QoS
requirements of a flow. The information regarding the availability of resources is managed by
a resource management module which assists the QoS rout-ing protocol in its search for QoS
feasible paths. The QoS routing protocol should find paths that consume minimum resources.
The QoS metrics can be classified as additive metrics, concave metrics, and multiplicative
metrics. An additive metric Am is defined as hi=1 Li(m), where Li(m) is the value of metric m
over link Li and Li P. The hop length of path P is h. A concave metric represents the minimum
value over a path P and is formally defined as Cm = min(Li(m)), Li(m) P.
A multiplicative metric represents the product of QoS metric values and is defined as Mm =
hi=1(Li(m)), Li(m) P.
To find a QoS feasible path for a concave metric, the available resource on each link should be
at least equal to the required value of the metric. Bandwidth is a concave metric, while
cost, delay, and delay jitters are additive metrics. The reliability or availability of a link, based
on some criteria such as link-break-probability, is a multiplicative metric. Finding an optimal
path with multiple constraints may be an NP-complete problem if it involves two or more
additive metrics. For example, finding a delay-constrained least-cost path is an NP-complete
problem.
Ticket-based QoS routing is a distributed QoS routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks.
This protocol has the following features:
• It can tolerate imprecise state information during QoS route computation and exhibits good
performance even when the degree of imprecision is high.
• It probes multiple paths in parallel for finding a QoS feasible path. This increases the chance
of finding such a path. The number of multiple paths searched is limited by the number of
tickets issued in the probe packet by the source node. State information maintained at
intermediate nodes is used for more accurate route probing. An intelligent hop-by-hop selection
mechanism is used for finding feasible paths efficiently The optimal of a path among several
feasible paths is explored. A low-cost path that uses minimum resources is preferred when
multiple feasible paths \are available. In wireless ad hoc networks, the network layer plays a
crucial role in facilitating communication between different nodes (devices) that are part of the
network. ThIn wireless ad hoc networks, the network layer plays a crucial role in facilitating
communication between different nodes (devices) that are part of the network. The network
layer's main responsibilities include routing packets, maintaining network topology, and
handling issues like node mobility and connectivity.
Here are some common solutions and protocols used in the network layer of wireless ad hoc
networks:
1. Dynamic Source Routing (DSR): DSR is a reactive routing protocol where the source node
determines the complete route to the destination on-demand. When a node wants to send
data to another node, it searches for a route by flooding the network with route request
packets. The route is then established based on the responses received from other nodes.
DSR benefits from being loop-free and does not require a periodic exchange of routing
tables.
2. Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV): AODV is another reactive routing
protocol that establishes routes between nodes only when needed. It works by using
distance vectors (hop counts) and maintains routes by periodically exchanging routing
tables. AODV reduces overhead by establishing routes on-demand, making it suitable for
mobile ad hoc networks.
3. Dynamic MANET On-demand (DYMO): DYMO is a reactive routing protocol designed
for mobile ad hoc networks. It utilizes route request and route reply packets to establish
paths when needed, and it also includes support for route error and route cancellation
messages to handle changes in network topology effectively.
4. Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR): OLSR is a proactive routing protocol that
maintains routes to all destinations in the network. It utilizes a technique called MultiPoint
Relays (MPRs) to reduce the flooding of control messages, which improves scalability and
reduces overhead in large networks.
5. Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV): DSDV is a proactive routing protocol
that maintains multiple routes to a destination. It uses sequence numbers to ensure the most
recent and valid route is chosen for packet forwarding. DSDV is loop-free and ensures
quicker convergence in case of topology changes.
6. Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP): ZRP is a hybrid routing protocol that combines proactive
and reactive approaches. It divides the network into zones and uses proactive routing
within a zone and reactive routing between zones. This hybrid approach aims to achieve a
balance between overhead and responsiveness.
7. Geographic Routing Protocols: These protocols use location information of nodes to make
routing decisions. Examples include Geographic Routing Protocol (GRP) and Greedy
Perimeter Stateless Routing (GPSR). They are particularly useful in scenarios where nodes
have GPS capabilities.
It's important to note that the choice of the network layer solution in a wireless ad hoc network
depends on various factors such as network size, node mobility, traffic patterns, and application
requirements. Each protocol has its advantages and limitations, and the appropriate protocol
should be selected based on the specific characteristics of the network deployment.
Additionally, advancements in networking research may have introduced new protocols or
improvements to existing ones beyond my last update in September 2021.e network layer's
main responsibilities include routing packets, maintaining network topology, and handling
issues like node mobility and connectivity.