A MAC Perspective on Multiuser Detection in Ad Hoc Networks

The deployment of wireless ad hoc networks faces severe limitations by mutual interference between wireless devices. In this work, we introduce a method to alleviate interference using a medium access control (MAC) layer exploiting multiuser detection (MUD). Instead of interference avoidance, the primary task of such a MAC layer is interference handling. To this end, we first identify link layer requirements for deploying MUD in a decentralized and self-organizing network. Based on these requirements, we propose a MAC protocol supporting MUD. We estimate possible throughput gains of this protocol. Network simulations confirm the analytical results and show remarkable throughput improvements.