RCDP: A novel content delivery solution for wireless networks based on raptor codes

Abstract

The growth of research on Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding has boosted the usage of FEC strategies when addressing the challenges of multicast and broadcast delivery. However, FEC approaches can also be used for unicast content delivery to avoid known TCP issues in wireless network environments. In this paper we exploit the error resilience properties of Raptor codes by proposing RCDP, a novel solution for reliable and bidirectional unicast communication in lossy links that can improve content delivery in situations where the network becomes the bottleneck. Since the implementation of RCDP in real systems involves important technical challenges, we also focus on the design, implementation, and optimization issues, proposing different architectural and design alternatives for RCDP. Our goal is to find the best trade-off between complexity and efficiency in order to maximize the throughput achieved under different conditions. Experimental results show that RCDP is a highly efficient solution for environments characterized by high delays and packet losses (e.g. ad-hoc networks), achieving significant performance improvements compared to traditional transport-layer protocols. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.