Random Linear Coding for File Sharing in Upload-Limited Wireless Packet Networks

Random Linear Coding (RLC) [2] is a form of network coding where each network node, rather than forwarding packets unchanged along the path from source-to-destination, forwards random linear combinations of the data it has received. In this paper, the benefits of using Random Linear Coding(RLC) for data sharing in upload-limited wireless packet networks is investigated. Through simulations, we demonstrate the number of nodes that can share a data file increases with RLC compared to that with routing only. Especially, when the wireless connections experience high loss rates and (or) the limit of upload is small, RLC together with placing more resource nodes can be a very efficient method to improve the ratio of successful download.