Analysis, stability, and optimization of slotted ALOHA with a finite number of buffered users

This paper analyzes the slotted ALOHA multiple access scheme for satellite channels with a finite number of users, each having a buffer of infinite capacity. The basic contribution of the paper is the introduction of an improved 2-Markov chain model that permits analysis of this heretofore unsolved problem. Finding an optimal value for the retransmission probability,
p
that minimizes the total average packet delay and at the same time ensures stability is also discussed.