C-MCMA: a new multiple access protocol for centralized wireless local networks

The development of wireless local area networks depends, to a large extent, on the availability of flexible and efficient multiple access techniques that cope with the constraints imposed by the wireless propagation environment. In this paper we consider centralized network topologies, with a base station exchanging data packets with a set of portable terminals. We propose a new multiple access protocol whereby the portable terminals compete for the uplink access to the channel with minipackets in response to controlling commands, issued by the base station. Accordingly, the protocol is called centralized minipacket competition multiple access (C-MCMA). In order to judge on the efficiency of C-MCMA its performance is compared with that of the busy channel multiple access protocol with collision detection (BCMA/CD), taking into account receiver capture effects and downlink traffic. It is concluded that for a wide range of values for the parameters of the models considered C-MCMA outperforms BCMA/CD