Node Interaction in 802.11 based networks with boolean interference

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) have been extensively studied over the past several years. So far, research has primarily focussed on scenarios where all nodes in the network can hear each other. The present paper discusses interaction between nodes in a more complex setting, where nodes may only hear parts of the network. The analysis relies on a Markov process that keeps track of the activity of nodes. Return times and hitting probabilities in this process are related to interaction phenomena in the wireless network and examples are given to illustrate how these can be used to predict network performance. The approximations are validated through simulations.