A GOP-aware multipath source routing protocol for MPEG video delivery over mobile ad hoc networks

This paper proposes a group of picture (GOP)-aware multipath source routing protocol (GMSR) for real-time moving picture experts group (MPEG) video delivery in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). First, as existing multipath routing protocols usually produce large amount of route reply packets in a short period of time, which may cause traffic congestion, a cumulative route reply strategy (CRR) is employed in this work. Second, in order to enhance the reliability of the CRR, we investigate a selective route reply salvaging policy (SRRS) to protect an important route reply packet. Finally, we explore a novel cross-layer design framework according to the characteristics of MPEG video streams. On this basis, we introduce a GOP-aware flow control strategy (GFC) to coordinate video delivery, working together with the routing protocol. Our simulation results demonstrate that the GMSR achieves a significant improvement of the quality of real-time video streaming.