A generic distributed broadcast scheme in ad hoc wireless networks

We propose a generic framework for distributed broadcasting in ad hoc wireless networks. The approach is based on selecting a small subset of hosts (also called nodes) to form a forward node set to carry out a broadcast process. The status of each node, forwarding or non-forwarding, is determined either by itself (self-pruning) or by other nodes (neighbor-designating). Node status can be determined at different snapshots of network state along time (called views) without causing problems in broadcast coverage. A sufficient condition, called coverage condition, is given for a node to take the non-forward status. Such a condition can be easily checked locally around the node. Several existing broadcast algorithms can be viewed as special cases of the generic framework with k-hop neighborhood information. A comprehensive comparison among existing algorithms is conducted. Simulation results show that new algorithms, which are more efficient than existing ones, can be derived from the generic framework. This work is an extension to an early work in which only self-pruning methods are discussed [16].