Multipath Routing in MANETs Using Multiple Description Coding

Routing in ad hoc networks is a well known issue. Most of the previous propositions to route data between two nodes aimed to define a path (sometimes several ones) on which packets are sent. In this paper we investigate a new strategy which combines a new multipath routing protocol, called topology multipath routing (TMR) and multiple description coding (MDC). With this kind of coding methods, groups of original packets are turned into pieces of information called descriptions. Any subset with sufficient number of descriptions contains enough information to enable reconstruction of the original packets. Thus, by sending descriptions on different routes, we make each of theses routes less critical. Selected routes aims to be disjoint, but, contrary to usual multipath ad hoc routing protocols, this property is not mandatory. Simulations and evaluation of performances are made on NS2 for different values of MDC parameters. A comparative study with the well known reactive protocol DSR is also realized.