Efficient end system multicast for mobile ad hoc networks

End system multicast protocols have the advantage that nonmember nodes are not burdened with multicast routing and storing state information. Unfortunately, most existing end system multicast protocols are developed for the traditional Internet. We show how these protocols can also be utilized in mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET). To achieve this the protocols have to be adapted to fit the highly dynamic network topology, link failures and other particularities of MANETs. We show how the existing NICE protocol can be improved to operate more efficient in such an environment. This is achieved by exploiting the broadcast capabilities of the medium, permanent adaptation to the dynamic network topology and a distance metric that is based on hop count instead of latency measurements. Simulations show that the proposed improvements greatly increase the efficiency of the protocol in MANETs. Moreover, the proposed protocol introduces the local broadcast cluster concept that exploits the broadcast medium better than any other existing overlay approach.