Fully distributed wireless MAC transmission of real-time data

As ad hoc wireless networks become more common, the need for real time services on these networks is emerging. However little work has focused on supporting real time requirements in such a demanding environment where the medium of transmission is noisy and protocols must be fully decentralized. Addressing this, we present a MAC protocol, preemptive in nature, that supports the transmission of hard, soft and non real time data. To guarantee stability even in overloaded conditions and still offer support for deadlines, we use splitting protocols. A protocol model is presented and analyzed, showing its performance under a wide range of offered loads with various fractions of real time types. We show that the protocol is easily implemented without making unreasonable hardware demands and so could be used as the basis for building real time services in an ad hoc wireless network