Effects of cross-layer processing on wireless ad hoc network performance

The traditional OSI layered design used in wired networks is considered to be the bottleneck in current wireless ad hoc network´s less than desirable performance. In order to support new multimedia network and to provide ubiquitous wireless access, various OSI layers and network functions must be considered together while designing the network. In this paper, we discuss the performance optimization challenges of ad hoc network and how cross-layered processing can improve its performance. We implemented a protocol stack that involves cross-layer processing including: (a) transmission rate adaptation in the MAC layer based on the channel signal strength information from physical layer and (b) congestion information from MAC layer to network routing protocol - DSR as a congestion aware routing metric for optimal route discovery. The simulation results show network performance improvement.