The impact of RTS/CTS frames on TCP performance in mobile ad hoc-based wireless LAN

This paper analyzes the effect of RTS (request to send) and CTS (clear to send) frames on the TCP performance and network throughput in the single-hop mobile ad hoc-based wireless LAN. It describes the role of the RTS and CTS frames in avoiding the hidden node problem usually induced by node mobility in wireless LAN, and especially emphasizes whether such avoidance really has a significant impact on the network performance. A mobile ad hoc-based wireless LAN with client-server architecture is simulated using OPNET simulator to analyze both the network-level and node-level performance. Network throughput which is evaluated as bps in each client, TCP performance that is evaluated as connection congestion window size in each client and TCP retransmission count are analyzed to see if the use of RTS/CTS on mobile ad hoc environment is significant in enhancing performance.