SR ARQ delay statistics on N-state Markov channels with non-instantaneous feedback

In this paper the packet delay statistics of a fully reliable selective repeat ARQ (SR ARQ) scheme is investigated. An N-state discrete time Markov channel model is used to describe the packet error process and the channel round trip delay is considered to be non zero, i.e., ACK/NACK messages are received at the transmitter m channel slots after the packet transmission started. The ARQ packet delay statistics is evaluated by means of an exact analysis by jointly tracking packet errors and channel state evolution. Furthermore, procedures to derive a Markov channel description of a Rayleigh fading process are discussed and the delay statistics obtained from the Markov analysis is compared with that estimated by simulation of the SR ARQ protocol over the actual fading process. The accuracy of the delay statistics obtained from the Markov Channel representation of the actual fading process is investigated by explicitly addressing the effect of the number of states considered in the Markov channel model and the impact of the Doppler frequency. Finally, besides giving a new analysis to obtain link layer statistics over N-state Markov channels, the paper provides important considerations on the adequacy of the widely used Markov modeling approach for the characterization of higher layer performance