A cluster-based hybrid broadcasting mechanism for quorum systems with power management and delay constraint in the MAC sub-layer

Quorum based asynchronous protocols -which guarantee overlap between two asynchronous neighbor nodes at least in a time interval for data transmission- have serious problems in broadcasting packets because nodes have no information about their neighbors’ schedules. Synchronous protocols need to synchronize the whole network that leads to less delay but more energy consumption. In contrast, asynchronous protocols need no clock synchronization and save more energy but impose high delays. This article proposes a hybrid mechanism for broadcasting packets which uses the advantages of both synchronous and asynchronous protocols to solve the broadcasting problem in the quorum systems. The mechanism is cluster-based, that is, it uses an asynchronous protocol for communication between cluster-heads and a synchronous protocol for connecting a cluster-head to its members in a cluster. Simulation results indicate that compared with other methods, the mechanism suggested in this paper improves the rate of power saving and end to end delay.