On upper bound and heuristics for multicast lifetime maximization using dynamic routing in energy-limited wireless ad hoc networks

Abstract

We consider the problem of maximizing the lifetime of a given multicast connection in wireless networks that use omni-directional antennas and have limited energy resources. In this paper, we first explore the upper bound of the multicast lifetime using dynamic routing. We then provide a set of heuristic algorithms. Experimental results show that minimum total power consumption does not guarantee maximum lifetime for either broadcasting or multicasting, and our algorithms outperform other energy-aware multicast algorithms significantly in terms of multicast lifetime.