Design and analysis of a network coding algorithm for ad hoc networks

Abstract

Network coding is proved to have advantages in both wireline and wireless networks. Especially, appropriate network coding schemes are programmed for underlined networks. Considering the feature of strong node mobility in aviation communication networks, a hop-by-hop network coding algorithm based on ad hoc networks was proposed. Compared with COPE-like network coding algorithms, the proposed algorithm does not require overhearing from other nodes, which meets confidentiality requirements of aviation communication networks. Meanwhile, it does save resource consumption and promise less processing delay. To analyze the performance of the network coding algorithm in scalable networks with different traffic models, a typical network was built in a network simulator, through which receiving accuracy rate and receiving delay were both examined. The simulation results indicate that, by virtue of network coding, the proposed algorithm works well and improves performance significantly. More specifically, it has better performance in enhancing receiving accuracy rate and reducing receiving delay, as compared with any of the traditional networks without coding. It was applied to both symmetric and asymmetric traffic flows and, in particular, it achieves much better performance when the network scale becomes larger. Therefore, this algorithm has great potentials in large-scale multi-hop aviation communication networks.