Random access MAC for efficient broadcast support in ad hoc networks

Wireless communications are becoming an important part of our everyday lifestyle. One major area that will have an enormous impact on the performance of wireless ad hoc networks is the medium access control (MAC) layer. Current random access MAC protocols for ad hoc networks support reliable unicast but not reliable broadcast. We propose a random access MAC protocol, broadcast support multiple access (BSMA), which improves the broadcast reliability in ad hoc networks.