Relay algorithm based on network coding in wireless local network

The network coding is a new technology in the field of information in 21st century. It could enhance the network throughput and save the energy consumption, and is mainly based on the single transmission rate. However, with the development of wireless network and equipment, wireless local network MAC protocols have already supported the multi-rate transmission. This paper investigates the optimal relay selection problem based on network coding. Firstly, the problem is formulated as an optimization problem. Moreover, a relay algorithm based on network coding is proposed and the transmission time gain of our algorithm over the traditional relay algorithm is analyzed. Lastly, we compare total transmission time and the energy consumption of our proposed algorithm, Network Coding with Relay Assistance (NCRA), Transmission Request (TR), and the Direct Transmission (DT) without relay algorithm by adopting IEEE 802.11b. The simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm that improves the coding opportunity by the cooperation of the relay nodes leads to the transmission time decrease of up to 17% over the traditional relay algorithms.