Design and evaluation of cooperative broadcast in a wireless mesh network based on 3GPP LTE

This paper presents results of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) LOLA (achieving LOw LAtency in wireless communications) project about the design of a cooperative broadcast (CB) technique based on a decode and forward (DF) protocol, in the context of a clusterized wireless mesh network (WMN) based on 3GPP LTE PHY/MAC layers. The CB technique is compared to a baseline broadcast technique, obtained by packet propagation over a predetermined tree combined with local broadcasts inside the clusters. The novelty of the paper consists in presenting a design of CB which takes into consideration a number of practical issues set by the 3GPP LTE framework, like subframe design or MAC signalling. Moreover, simulation results are presented comparing the two techniques and presenting their advantages and drawbacks.