Network Coding-Aware Flow Control in Wireless Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper, we study an end-to-end flow control algorithm considering network coding in wireless ad-hoc networks. As a network coding scheme, we use XOR network coding, in which each node bitwise-XORs some packets from different sessions, and then broadcasts the XORed packets. This process can reduce the number of required transmissions and, thus improve network utilization, especially if it is used with appropriate network protocols. Considering this XOR network coding, we formulate an optimization problem for end-to-end flow control in wireless ad-hoc networks that aims at maximizing network utility. We then develop a distributed flow control algorithm by solving the optimization problem. The simulation results show that our distributed flow control algorithm performs well exploiting the advantages of network coding and provides higher network utility than the flow control algorithm without considering network coding.