Multi-channel MAC protocol with channel grouping in wireless ad-hoc network

This paper proposes a MAC protocol using multiple control channels for multi-channel ad-hoc network. In the proposed protocol, all channels are divided into some groups. Each group has a control channel. All nodes hops the control channels for searching a receiver. Because of using multiple control-channels, control frame collisions and the effect of searching overhead are mitigated in the proposed protocol. This paper also derives the optimum number of groups and the optimum contention window size, which maximizes the system throughput. Analysis results and simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.