We consider broadcasting protocols in mobile ad hoc networks that propagate a message from a node to all of the nodes of a network. In order to reduce the impact of mobility on protocols, instead of relying on the frequently changing communication topology, our approaches depend on a less frequently changing and more stable characteristic --- the distribution of mobile nodes. We propose two broadcasting approaches. For each approach, we provide specific constraints on distribution and mobility of mobile nodes to guarantee that all the nodes receive the broadcast data. Under these constraints, given a network with area A, our approaches achieve broadcasting in O(A/R2) steps, where R is the transmission range.

This paper presents several distributed algorithms that cause a token to continually circulate through all the nodes of a mobile ad hoc network. An important application of such algorithms is to ensure total order of message, delivery in a group communication service. Some of the proposed algorithms are aware of, and adapt to changes in the ad hoc network topology. When using a token circulation algorithm, a round is said to complete when every node has been visited at least once. Criteria for comparing the algorithms include the average time, required to complete a round, number of bytes sent per round, and number of nodes visited per round. Comparison between the proposed algorithms is performed using simulation results obtained from a detailed simulation model (with ns-2 simulator). We also give a rigorous worst-case analysis of the proposed LR algorithm, which gives the best overall performance in the simulation.