Saturation Throughput Analysis of a Passive Cluster-Based Medium Access Control Protocol for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

Several clustering algorithms have been proposed during the last decade within the context of ad hoc and sensor networks. They allow adding some organization to an otherwise disorganized network. Although the virtual organization attained by clustering has been typically designed within the scope of routing algorithms, clusters can also enable the use of conventional highly efficient medium access control (MAC) protocols to support heavy traffic loads. In this paper we adopt a novel approach to calculate the saturation throughput of a single- hop ad hoc network when using a MAC protocol embedded in a passive clustering mechanism based on the Carrier Sensing Multiple Access (CSMA) protocol. The DQMAN protocol is considered as a study case to validate the proposal.