A MAC layer protocol for priority-based reliable multicast in wireless ad hoc networks

RTS-CTS handshake based protocols achieve "reliable unicast" by eliminating the hidden node problem effectively, however, these solutions are not directly or efficiently generalizable for solving the "reliable multicast" problem; multicast remains a best-effort operation in wireless ad hoc networks. Here we present a simple light-weight MAC protocol, namely busy elimination multiple access (BEMA) protocol, for solving the reliable multicast problem. BEMA grants on-demand access to the channel-rather than assigning fixed slots as in TDMA based approaches-and supports prioritization of traffic, thereby providing a useful building block for applications with reliability and quality-of-service requirements