On the exact multicast delay in mobile ad hoc networks with f-cast relay

The study of multicast delay performance in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is critical for supporting future multicast-intensive applications in such networks. Different from available works that mainly focus on the study of asymptotic scaling laws of the multicast delay in MANETs, this paper explores the exact multicast delay achievable in MANETs under a general multicast two-hop relay (M2HR)-(f,g)(f,g) algorithm with packet replication limit f and multicast fanout g. In such an algorithm, each packet can be replicated up to f distinct relay nodes and it should be delivered to its g   destination nodes through either its source node or these relay nodes. We first develop a Markov chain-based theoretical framework to model the complicated packet delivery process under the M2HR-(f,g)(f,g) algorithm and then determine some basic probabilities related to packet delivery process. With the help of the theoretical framework and related basic packet delivery probabilities, the analytical models are further derived for both the mean value and variance of exact multicast delay. Finally, simulation and numerical results are provided to illustrate the accuracy of the multicast delay models as well as our theoretical findings.