QoS aware multicast routing in MANETs

Unlike fixed networks such as the Internet, quality of service support in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is challenging. They potentially have less resources than fixed networks. Applications like video-on-demand, video conferencing, demand multicasting in MANETs. For such applications, more criterion are required in order to capture the quality of the links between the nodes. Proposed QoS aware multicast routing scheme ensures QoS guarantees (bandwidth reservation, delay constrain and packet loss) to multicast session. The scheme operates in the following sequence: 1) Determine the mobility factor of each node participating in the multicast routing, 2) Clustering of nodes and then select QoS aware cluster heads based on the mobility factor of nodes, 3) Identify the intermediate node, 4) Join multicast group members to the backbone, 5) Set up a QoS aware path for the required multicast route. The scheme has been simulated in various network scenarios to test operation effectiveness in terms of performance parameters such as cluster formation time, number of QoS aware cluster heads, network reconfiguration time. We observed from the simulation that the proposed scheme effectively reduces the network overhead and takes care of the connectivity breakages due to mobility of nodes and the node failures.