Power Efficient Time-Controlled CSMA/CA MAC Protocol for Lunar Surface Networks

Lunar surface networks are critical to a manned mission to the Moon, but encounter many challenges including lack of infrastructure, shortage of power, long distance communications, and quality of service (QoS) support. These challenges demand both power efficient and reliable networking protocols. In this paper a power efficient and reliable MAC protocol is proposed based on commercial IEEE 802.11 chipsets. It includes an innovative mechanism, called time controlled CSMA/CA (TC-CSMA/CA), to reduce power consumption of a communication device to the minimum. Additionally, due to time control, QoS of various applications is highly improved. Both simulations and testbed implementation are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed MAC protocol. Experimental results illustrate that the TC-CSMA/CA MAC is highly effective in reducing power consumption and increasing service reliability.