Efficient broadcast using link-state routing information in packet radio networks

This paper addresses the problem of best-effort, timely and efficient broadcast of information to all nodes in a multi-hop packet radio network (PRNET). It proposes a set of two protocols, the subnet protocol with efficient broadcast (SP-EB) and the pro-active link-state routing protocol (PALSR). PALSR is a pro-active link-state routing protocol while SP-EB is a datagram protocol that uses the topology information from PALSR to reduce redundancy in the flooding of broadcast traffic. In addition to providing an efficient broadcast mechanism, the solution also provides for unicast datagram delivery, although this is not discussed in this study. OPNET simulations were carried out to evaluate the relative performance, in terms of throughput, message drop rate and delay, of this solution versus the ideal flooding mechanism in performing network broadcast. Simulations showed that the proposed solution should be supported by a fair channel access mechanism. The simulation results also demonstrated that performance improvement is evident in a typical multi-hop PRNET and most significant when the network is near fully connected.