Decentralized Cross-Layer Optimization for Multichannel Aloha Wireless Networks

While most existing channel aware Aloha schemes focus on wireless networks where each user intends to send only one traffic flow, and interferes with all the other users, some wireless networks may have more complicated traffic distribution and the transmissions of different users may interfere with different groups of users. In this paper, we consider schemes for the decentralized cross-layer optimization of multichannel random access, in which users are not necessarily within the transmission ranges of all other users, and each user may choose to send packets to or receive packets from different users simultaneously. With cross-layer design, users are configured according to local neighborhood information to adapt to inhomogeneous network characteristics. It is demonstrated by simulation that the proposed scheme significantly outperforms existing channel aware Aloha schemes due to its exploitation of both multiuser diversity and the inhomogeneous characteristics of traffic distribution in the network.