CSMA/CA Performance under Fading Environment with Two-Dimensional Distribution of Hidden Terminal

Performance of CSMA/CA wireless networks is severely affected by hidden terminal (HT) problem that leads to failure of carrier sense and causes packet error due to collision. However, no mathematical analysis method has been available that can estimate the performance of two-dimensional CSMA/CA network under fading environment with hidden terminal. The analysis method proposed in this paper enables to precisely predict the probability of successful communication for CSMA/CA network under such environment. The probability maps obtained by the method visualize the effect of HT problem under fading environment. They show the dependence of the packet transmission performance on interferer´s position and carrier sense level. The results as well as the proposed analysis method are quite useful for CSMA/CA network design.