Network-level cooperative protocols for wireless multicasting: Stable throughput analysis and use of network coding

In this paper, we investigate the impact of network coding at the relay node on the stable throughput rate in multicasting cooperative wireless networks. The proposed protocol adopts Network-level cooperation, as in contrast to the traditional physical layer cooperative protocols; and in addition, it uses random linear network coding at the relay node. The traffic is assumed to be bursty and the relay node forwards its packets during the idle periods of the source which allows better utilization of channel resources. Our results show that cooperation leads to higher stable throughput rates than conventional retransmission policies. Moreover, the use of random linear network coding at the relay can further enhance the stable throughput with increasing network coding field size or increasing the number of packets over which encoding is performed.