Performance tradeoffs in wireless multicasting

In this paper, we consider the problem of multicasting under energy and delay constraints over independent erasure channels in a single-hop network. We address the performance tradeoffs associated with wireless mutlicasting. Then, we solve some of these tradeoff problems, initially for one transmitter and subsequently for multiple transmiiters. As a first step, we formulate an optimization problem for the case of single transmitter. In this case the objective is to maximize the throughput given certain energy and delay constraints, and then, we solve this problem using dynamic programming. Then, we consider the case of mutliple transmitters simultaneously transmitting, and evaluate the performance (achieved throughput, consumed energy, and delay) as functions of the transmission policy. Also, we use simple Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) and Random Network Coding (RNC) as transmission schemes and compare their effect on the performance. Our approach illustrates the complex trade-offs that are needed.