Energy-Efficient Real-Time Multicast Routing in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper, we present Multicasting through Time Reservation using Adaptive Control for Energy efficiency (MC-TRACE), an energy-efficient real-time data multicasting architecture for mobile ad hoc networks. MC-TRACE is a cross-layer design, where the medium access control layer functionality and the network layer functionality are performed by a single integrated layer. The basic design philosophy behind the multicast routing part of the architecture is to establish and maintain an active multicast tree surrounded by a passive mesh within a mobile ad hoc network. Thus, the MC-TRACE multicast backbone is a condensed passive mesh woven around a highly pruned tree. Although tree-and mesh-based multicasting techniques have been used separately in existing multicasting architectures, the novelty in this study is the integration and reengineering of the tree and mesh structures to make them highly energy efficient and robust for real-time data multicasting in mobile ad hoc networks. Energy efficiency is achieved by enabling the nodes to switch to sleep mode frequently and by eliminating most of the redundant data receptions. We evaluated the performance of MC-TRACE through ns - 2 simulations and compared it with ODMRP. Our results show that MC-TRACE provides superior energy efficiency while producing competitive QoS performance and bandwidth efficiency.