QoS Routing for Multimedia Communication over Wireless Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: A Survey

A lot of intensive research has been carried out in the direction of providing multimedia communication over wireless mobile ad hoc network (MANET). In MANET, various QoS problems exist such as inefficient routing, handling node mobility, power conservation, limited processing capabilities of network devices, high error rates. Wireless routing introduces new challenges as applying basic routing algorithms directly on MANET could lead to large power consumption, interference, and load-balancing problems. Many routing algorithms have been proposed as extensions to the basic routing algorithms to enhance their performance in MANETs. This paper summarizes existing solutions on QoS routing and resource reservation mechanisms in order to provide multimedia communication over MANET. It also considers the limitations of existing QoS models with regard to satisfying QoS in serving multimedia over MANET. The newest QoS architectures give much better results in providing QoS support. However, more refinements must be proposed in order to enhance further their performance in MANETs.