Maximum transmission distance of geographic transmissions on Rayleigh channels

We consider the use of multiuser diversity to maximize transmission distance in a wireless network. This differs from previous work on multiuser diversity, which focused mainly on increasing the data rate. We analyze the maximum achievable transmission distance in a geocasting scenario, in which any radio in a specified geographical area is an acceptable destination for a packet. Performance results are presented for Rayleigh fading and nonfading channels. To illustrate the benefits of multiuser diversity, we show that higher transmission distances can be achieved over fading channels than over nonfading channels if the density of radios is sufficiently high. We also illustrate one application of our results to protocol design