Audio and Video Streaming
over MANET
Salman Shahid
salman.sam@live.com
Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Introduction/Abstract: Mobile Ad hoc
Networks (MANETs) are self-configuring
and self-healing networks primarily used by
defense forces and civil administration to
achieve uninterrupted communication
support during emergency situations along
with increased redundancy. MANETs do not
require any pre-existing infrastructure or
centralized control. As the nodes
constituting the network are mobile, with
wireless links between them, the network
topology can be very dynamic. Due to
mobility of nodes, the performance of a
MANET is dependent upon the capability of
the routing protocol to adapt to the
frequently changing network topology. Thus
special types of routing protocols are
developed for MANETs: reactive and
proactive. Ad hoc On-Demand Distance
Vector (AODV) and Optimized Link State
Routing (OLSR) are two reactive and
proactive protocols that are commonly used
for establishing MANETs. In this project, a
multi-hop MANET was implemented using
five Linux based WRT-54GL wireless
routers executing the OLSR protocol. An
extra node was placed between the source
and destination nodes to evaluate the
redundancy of the network. VoIP
communication was established and tested
under static and mobile scenarios and
communication efficiency was evaluated.
Mr. Nauman Shamim
nauman.shamim.xp@gmail.com
Objective
The goal of this project is to develop a
mobile ad-hoc wireless network that can
effectively support voice and data traffic
over multiple wireless hops.
Methodology
 Different routing protocols for ad hoc
networks were studied and OLSR was
selected based upon its high
performance.
 OLSR was implemented on five Linux
based WRT-54GL wireless routers.
 Multi-hop configuration was established
using Iptables to simulate a mobile
topology.
 Appropriate software was selected and
installed to enable voice and video
transmission.
Analysis
The communication efficiency involving
Goodput, latency, end-to-end packet loss
and jitter was extensively evaluated using
the Iperf bandwidth tester and Ping
application over different number of
wireless hops.
 2

time. To support mobility, each router can be

Conclusion
 The results obtained from the
performance analysis indicate that the
network established is completely
capable of VoIP communication over
multiple numbers of wireless hops.
 The network is highly reliable with
alternate route selection within three
seconds of route severing.
provided with a portable 12 volt battery.
References
[1]. Lei Chen and Wendi Heinzelman
“Network Architecture to Support QoS
in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks”, pp 1-2, June
2004.

[2]. VoIP-[online] available:

http://www.midlandtelecom.com/VOIP_Des
cription.aspx

Figure: 1 Test-bed Network Topology

[3]. Netfilter-[online] available:
http://www.netfilter.org

Studying Understanding
MANETs and Linux OS [4]. Freifunk-[online] available:
Routing Protocols
http://freifunk.net/wiki/FreifunkFirmwareEn
Installing OLSR Installing AODV glish.
on WRT-54GL on LAN
routers

[5]. Linksys-[online] available:

Setting up
a Multi hop Test VoIP Installation http://www.linksys.com.
bed configuration

[6]. Y. Ge, T. Kunz, and L. Lamont,

Network Performance
Monitoring Evaluation “Quality of Service Routingin Ad-hoc
Networks Using OLSR,” in Proceeding of
Figure 2: Project Plan Flow Chart
the 36th Hawii International Conference on
Future Work System Science, 2003.
The performance of other protocols can be
compared with that of OLSR and a better
network solution can be obtained. For example [7]. Iperf-[online] available:
AODV can be cross compiled to run on the
http://dast.nlanr.net/Projects/Iperf/
WRT-54GL routers and its performance can be
compared with that of OLSR. Also the newer
versions of OLSR (Freifunk) are also available Technical Support
which should be evaluated in a real test bed
environment. For any help about thesis, please contact
We have tested the redundancy of the MANET me via email: salman.sam@live.com
in an emulated multi-hop environment i.e. we
blocked some of the nodes for specific routers
using MAC layer filtering. The MANET should
be tested in real life by actually physically
moving the routers out of the radio range of each
other and then monitoring the route switching