This two-year U.S.-Switzerland cooperative research project between Ravi Prakash of the University of Texas at Dallas and Andre Schiper of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne focuses on creating protocols for reliable broadcast and multicast in mobile ad hoc networks or MANETs. In reliable multicast as proposed by the investigators, the intended recipients are guaranteed to receive messages; whereas, present IP multicast is a best effort service. The investigators propose to develop theoretical solutions to problems inherent in moving to guaranteed delivery in mobile networks.
Intellectual Merit
The objective is to develop reliable broadcast and multicast protocols for mobile ad hoc networks that are topology aware, bandwidth conscious and storage efficient. The researchers propose to move from a simplified model to successively more complicated and realistic models.
Broader Impacts
The proposal adds an international dimension to the U.S. investigator's NSF Career award on Resource Management in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks - the Spatial Dimension. This work is complemented by the Swiss researcher's expertise in reliable multicast and atomic broadcast in traditional systems. Together, their approach will advance understanding of reliable broadcast and multicast in MANETs. The project gives a U.S. graduate student an international experience via research immersion at a leading Swiss institution. The project advances the student's international research skills and assists with developing international connections for future collaboration.
