Frequency-hop transmission for satellite packet switching and terrestrial packet radio networks

The performance of frequency-hop transmission in a packet communication network is analyzed. Satellite multiple-access broadcast channels for packet switching and terrestrial packet radio networks are the primary examples of the type of network considered. An analysis of the effects of multiple-access interference in frequency-hop radio networks is presented. New measures of "local" performance are defined and evaluated for networks of this type, and new concepts that are important in the design of these networks are introduced. In particular, error probabilities and local throughput are evaluated for a frequency-hop radio network which incorporates the standard slotted and unslotted ALOHA channel-access protocols, asynchronous frequency hopping, and Reed-Solomon error-control coding. The performance of frequency-hop multiple access with error-control coding is compared with the performance of conventional ALOHA random access using narrow-band radios.