Network Coding via Opportunistic Forwarding in Wireless Mesh Networks

Network coding has been used to increase transportation capabilities in wireless mesh networks. In mesh networks, the coding opportunities depend on the co-location of multiple traffic flows. With fixed routes given by a routing protocol, the coding opportunities are limited. This paper presents a new protocol called BEND, which combines the features of network coding and opportunistic forwarding in 802.11-based mesh networks to create more coding opportunities in the network. Taking advantage of redundancy of packets among the forwarder candidates, our protocol bends the routes locally and dynamically to attain better coding opportunities. This higher coding gain is verified using a network simulator.