Sending more for less bandwidth and power

摘要

In this work, we apply network coding to unicast in wireless mesh networks to improve network throughput while reducing the bandwidth and power requirements. Our Opportunistic Coding protocol encodes and decodes packets based on distributed and local decisions, in order to reduce the number of transmissions required in forwarding. Unlike prior work which focuses on theorectical analysis, we take a systems approach and study the performance through both emulations and testbed experiments. Our protocol aims to balance the tradeoff between reliable and efficient packet delivery. Preliminary results show that the real benefit of network coding can exceed the theorectically predicted gain, due to cross-layer interactions.