Network-Coded Multigeneration Protocols in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

In the upcoming era of 5G, the number of devices will increase massively, defining a heterogeneous wireless network. Nodes will be gathered in Mobile Clouds, and communicate between peers to achieve a general benefit. To provide packet resilience, error correction codes will be used. In particular, Random Linear Network Coding is standing out as one of the most successful ones. The interplay between Network Coding and Mobile Clouds creates a mesh network where nodes may receive information from multiple sources. However, RLNC was optimized to provide in-order-delay in D2D communications. RLNC need to adapt to a new heterogeneous mesh network where nodes receive packets from multiple paths. In this paper, we propose a method to improve conventional RLNC protocols by making them be able to manage multiple generations simultaneously. We also identify possible trade-offs between conventional RLNC protocols and our new approach. We conclude that multigeneration protocols have better behavior in terms of throughput and resilience, but the average latency per packet decoded is higher.