Multiple-packet forwarding protocols for frequency-hop packet radio networks

Reliable data distribution within spread-spectrum packet radio networks requires high performance from the network protocols. The high variability of the qualities of the links and the unique characteristics of frequency-hop spread-spectrum signaling impose special requirements for network protocols that are to be employed in frequency-hop packet radio networks. These features can be exploited in the forwarding protocols by allowing multiple packets to be included in each forwarding attempt. The use of multiple-packet transmissions exploits the capture property of frequency-hop signaling, and it reduces the overhead required for acknowledgments. In general, a potential tradeoff arises because the use of multiple-packet transmissions increases the throughput, but it can also increase the delay. In certain situations, however, the delay is decreased with the use of multiple-packet transmissions, or at least the increase in delay is not too great. Two new transmission protocols that employ multiple-packet transmissions are described, and their performance is evaluated