PERFORMANCE STUDY OF AD HOC WIRELESS LAN FOR MULTIMEDIA STREAMING APPLICATIONS

• Main Author: Sin, Kon Pei
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2006
• Subjects: TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/7246/1/2006%20-%20PERFORMANCE%20STUDY%20OF%20AD%20HOC%20WIRELESS%20LAN%20FOR%20MULTIMEDIA%20STREAMING%20APPLICATIONS.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/7246/

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) provides high-speed and cable-free access for computer-to-computer information transfer within the coverage range. The optional feature of WLAN is ad hoc, which allows the network to be formed and deformed without the need of system administration or access point. Multimedia streaming through WLAN allows users to download and play a small chunk of the multimedia file simultaneously. An ad hoc base wireless network is used in this project rather than infrastructure base due to the simpler architecture, cheaper set up cost of ad hoc network and no system administrator required. Unlike file sharing, streaming will not download the whole file. Streaming can be used for multimedia distribution without users having the illegal copies of the file. In this project, a multimedia file is to be streamed, but not downloaded, through the WLAN without passing through any access point. The host computer broadcast the multimedia file using "media server configurator" while the client computer streamed from the host computer using "streaming media player". Multihop streaming allows a node that is totally out of the coverage range to stream from the host computer, using the bridge as a passage. The streaming of the multimedia file is seamless and smooth within the ad hoc network. A node that is out of the coverage range can stream from the host computer by using the multi-hop concept although the distance between the host and the client does affect the performance. In multi-hop wireless network, the streaming process is at its best when the bridge is about 3 meters away from the receiving node.