A Multiaccess Protocol for Multihop Radio Networks

We describe an adaptive multiaccess channel protocol for use in radio networks with an arbitrary distribution of stationary hidden nodes, which provides the nodes with controlled, collision-free access to the channel. The protocol can be considered to belong to the BRAM [5] protocol family, but differs in significant ways from BRAM. In this paper we describe the tenets of the protocol, then develop the protocol, and finally develop analytic expressions for its expected throughput and delay performance. Given these delay-throughput expressions, we show how protocol "delay" optimization can be achieved by dynamic adjustment of a protocol parameter as the network traffic load changes.