On the impact of noise sensitivity on performance in 802.11 based ad hoc networks

The IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) layer plays a crucial role on the overall throughput obtained in a mobile ad hoc network. We show that the virtual carrier sense mechanism as designed and used in 802.11 could have crippling effect on distant but competing transmissions. We propose a modification to mitigate this situation and show using simulations that the proposed modification provides as much as 50% higher User Datagram Protocol (UDP) throughput for static wireless networks and 10-25% higher throughput for mobile ad hoc networks.