Broadcasting in Wireless Ad hoc Networks: Approaches and Challenges

Abstract

Broadcasting is a process of sending message from one node to all other nodes in a network. It is used commonly in ad hoc networks, for route discovery, content distribution, data disseminations, et cetera. Most of the routing protocols in ad hoc networks use broadcasting as the common mechanism to find path between source and destination. Therefore broadcast protocols are the fundamental building block to understand basic functionality of routing in mobile ad hoc network (MANET). Moreover due to the widespread application of MANET in various scientific and military applications, broadcasting in MANET has pulled attention of many researchers in recent time. Considering its importance and growing popularity, the authors discuss different broadcasting protocols commonly used in ad hoc networks. The chapter also analyzes various issues associated with these protocols.