Maximum flow and network capacity of network coding for ad-hoc networks

Network coding is an effective way to achieve the maximum flow of multicast networks. In this letter, we focus on the statistical properties of the maximum flow or the capacity of network coding for ad-hoc networks based on random graph models. Theoretical analysis shows that the maximum flow can be modelled as extreme order statistics of Gaussian distribution for both wired and wireless ad-hoc networks as the node number is relatively large under a certain condition. We also investigate the effects of the nodes' covering capabilities on the capacity of network coding.