A multi-path QoS multicast routing protocol with slot assignment for mobile ad hoc networks

Mobile multimedia applications have recently generated much interest in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) supporting quality-of-service (QoS) communications. Due to the limited bandwidth of a wireless node, a QoS multicast routing is often blocked if there is not a single multicast tree with the requested bandwidth, even when there is sufficient bandwidth in the network to support the call. In this paper, a multi-path QoS multicast routing (MQMR) protocol for MANETs is proposed. The scheme offers dynamic time slot control using a multi-path tree (or a uni-path tree) to meet the bandwidth requirements of a call. The final multi-path QoS multicast tree meets the QoS requirements, and the aggregate bandwidth of the paths meets the bandwidth requirements of a call. To avoid the hidden terminal problem or insufficient bandwidth in the bandwidth reservation process, each destination uses a decision rule. Moreover, a bandwidth reservation scheme is used for selecting the reserved time slots on each node in the multi-path QoS multicast tree. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of MQMR in reducing network blocking and improving the call success ratio.