Exploiting the unicast functionality of the on-demand multicast routing protocol

An ad hoc wireless network is composed of mobile hosts without any wired infrastructure support. In mobile ad hoc networks, unicast and multicast routing protocols are faced with the challenge of producing multihop routes because of limited radio propagation range. In addition, routing protocols must manage mobility and be bandwidth and power efficient. The on-demand multicast routing protocol (ODMRP) is a protocol designed for ad hoc networks with multicast purposes. Two unique features of ODMRP are its unicast capability and its utilization of a mobility prediction scheme to perform rerouting in anticipation of route disconnection. We describe ODMRP unicast routing functionality and assess the mobility prediction effectiveness and efficiency. We evaluate the ODMRP performance via detailed simulation and compare it with other ad hoc routing schemes.