Multicast capacity of large homogeneous multihop wireless networks

Most existing work on multicast capacity of large homogeneous networks is based on a simple model for wireless channel, namely the Protocol Model. In this paper, we exploit a local capacity tool called arena which we introduced recently in order to render multicast accessible to analysis also under more realistic, and notably less pessimistic channel models. Through the present study we find three regimes of the multicast capacity (lambda_m) for a homogeneous network depending on the ratio of terminals among the nodes of the network. We note that the upper bounds we establish under the more realistic channel assumptions are only radic(log(n)) larger than the existing bounds. Further, we propose a multicast routing and time scheduling scheme to achieve the computed asymptotic bound over all channel models except the simple Protocol Model. To this end, we employ percolation theory among other analytical tools. Finally, we compute the multicast capacity of large mobile wireless networks. Comparing the result to the static case reveals that mobility increases the multicast capacity. However, the mobility gain decreases when increasing the number of terminals in a fixed size mobile network.