A Cross Layer Approach to Improve QoS in Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Abstract

Quality of Service is an important parameter in the design of Mobile Ad hoc Networks. Providing Quality of Service (QoS) mechanism at multiple layers in the protocol stack will improve the network performance very much. QoS capable Medium Access Control (MAC) and cross layer design are emerging as potential solutions for QoS in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). To improve the performance of MANETs, the mechanisms of MAC layer and TCP layer have been combined. IEEE 802.11e and IEEE 802.11 MAC mechanisms and TCP Tahoe and TCP Reno are used for analysis. The evaluation of this cross layer approach is performed with simulation using NS2.