The case for multipath multimedia transport over wireless ad hoc networks

Real-time multimedia transport has stringent bandwidth, delay, and loss requirements. Supporting this application in current wireless ad hoc networks is a challenge. Such networks are characterized with frequent link failures, as well as congestion. Consequently, data packets are dropped when a link fails or congestion occurs, resulting in low received quality. In addition, a realtime multimedia service may be unavailable when a particular server is unreachable. In this article, we make the case for using multipath transport for realtime multimedia services in wireless ad hoc networks, which provides a unified solution to the above problems. We review existing work on multipath multimedia transport, and discuss the advantages, as well as related issues, of using multipath transport for realtime multimedia transport.