Mid Sweden University

The multi-hop ad-hoc networking paradigm isexpected to be a key feature in future wireless communicationsystems. In a typical data broadcast scenario, multi-hop ad-hocrouting protocols allow devices (called nodes in this paper) tocommunicate and form networks in a manner to enable them tosuccessfully communicate and share information with all othernodes. To ensure maximum reachability in a multi-hop network,the concept of cooperative diversity, in which multiple nodescooperate to transmit the same data to a destination, can beapplied. The cooperative diversity is best exploited with the use ofSingle Frequency Networks (SFNs), also known as a form ofMacro-diversity. This work comprises of a design and analysis ofan SFN based distributed cooperative routing protocol (SFNDCRP)for multi-hop ad-hoc networks with a focus on routinginitiation phase with CSMA as a synchronization mechanism. Theproposed protocol is proactive and incurs minimum per packetdelay. The total delay in routing initiation phase for a network ofn nodes is identified as a problem of n2+2n. A delivery rate orreachability improvement of up-to 36% points for a node isobserved for the SFN based protocol as compared to a non-SFNbased protocol. For synchronization, a CSMA MAC protocol isdeployed for which a deficiency of only less than 0.1 percent existsin the measurements due to collisions in the network.