Throughput (bits/sec/Hz) of Capture-Based Random-Access Systems with SINR Channel Models

We study power-based capture, under which a transmission is correctly decoded at the destination, even in the presence of other transmissions, if the received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) exceeds a threshold bges0. Most previous studies have expressed throughput in terms of packets per slot as a function of b. However, since the value of b is a function of parameters such as data rate and the specified value of bit-error rate (BER), it is actually more appropriate to consider throughput in terms of bits per second per Hz at a specified value of BER. In this paper, we address the relationships between the throughput that can be achieved (using a specific modulation scheme and BER criterion) and the threshold value b.