CSMA/CA-based uplink MAC protocol design and analysis for hybrid VLC/Wifi networks

This paper proposes a multi-channel medium access control (MAC) protocol for hybrid VLC/Wifi networks. The proposed MAC protocol is based on an integration of two standards, IEEE 802.15.7 VLC and IEEE 802.11 Wifi CSMA/CA(s) (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance). We newly add on top of current MAC protocols a sub-layer that runs dynamic channel selection by taking intelligent control decisions, regarding channel aware and traffic aware. System performance metrics are analytically studied based on a combination of queuing and Markov chain theories. Numerical results quantitatively show how the proposed protocols significantly outperform the conventional ones.