On reducing broadcast redundancy in ad hoc wireless networks

Unlike in a wired network, a packet transmitted by a node in an ad hoc wireless network can reach all neighbours. Therefore, the total number of transmissions (forward nodes) is generally used as the cost criterion for broadcasting. The problem of finding the minimum number of forward nodes is NP-complete. Among various approximation approaches, dominant pruning by H. Lim and C. Kim (2001) utilizes 2-hop neighbourhood information to reduce redundant transmissions. In this paper, we analyze some deficiencies of the dominant pruning algorithm and propose two better approximation algorithms: total dominant pruning and partial dominant pruning. Both algorithms utilize 2-hop neighbourhood information more effectively to reduce redundant transmissions. Simulation results of applying these two algorithms show performance improvements compared with the original dominant pruning. In addition, two termination criteria are discussed and compared through simulation.