Co-operative MAC protocol: Performance modeling and analysis

This work investigates a Cooperative Medium Access Control (CoopMAC) protocol that is backward compatible with the legacy 802.11 system, in which high data rate stations assist low data rate stations in their transmission by forwarding their traffic. New mathematical models have been developed in this work for the performance evaluation of this protocol under different channel conditions and for unsaturated traffic loads. Extensive simulation results validate the mathematical models developed and show that CoopMAC protocol can significantly improve system throughput, service delay, and energy efficiency for WLANs operating under realistic communication scenarios.