A backoff algorithm based on self-adaptive contention window update factor for IEEE 802.11 DCF

The binary exponential backoff (BEB) mechanism is applied to the packet retransmission in lots of wireless network protocols including IEEE 802.11 and 802.15.4. In distributed dynamic network environments, the fixed contention window (CW) updating factor of BEB mechanism can’t adapt to the variety of network size properly, resulting in serious collisions. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a backoff algorithm based on self-adaptive contention window update factor for IEEE 802.11 DCF. In WLANs, this proposed backoff algorithm can greatly enhance the throughput by setting the optimal CW updating factor according to the theoretical analysis. When the number of active nodes varies, an intelligent scheme can adaptively adjust the CW updating factor to achieve the maximal throughput during run time. As a result, it effectively reduces the number of collisions, improves the channel utilization and retains the advantages of the binary exponential back-off algorithm, such as simplicity and zero cost. In IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) protocol, the numerical analysis of physical layer parameters show that the new backoff algorithm performance is much better than BEB, MIMD and MMS algorithm.     

A novel fair random access scheme with throughput optimization using fuzzy controller for wireless systems

Good backoff algorithms should be able to achieve high channel throughput while maintaining fairness among active nodes. In this paper, we propose a novel backoff algorithm to improve the fairness of random access channels, while maximizing channel throughput. The mechanism of the proposed backoff algorithm uses backoff delay (retransmission delay) and channel‐offered traffic to dynamically control the backoff interval, so that each active node increases its backoff interval in the case of collision by a factor which exponentially decreases as the backoff delay increases, and decreases its backoff interval in the case of successful transmission by a factor which exponentially decreases as the backoff delay of previous retransmission attempts increases. Also, the backoff interval is controlled according to the channel offered, traffic using a fuzzy controller to maximize channel throughput. Furthermore, the operation of the proposed backoff algorithm does not depend on knowledge of the number of active nodes. A computer simulation is developed using MATLAB to evaluate the performance of the proposed backoff algorithm and compare it with the binary exponential backoff (BEB) scheme, which is widely used owing to its high channel throughput, while its fairness is relatively poor. It is shown that the proposed backoff algorithm significantly outperforms the BEB scheme in terms of improving the performance of fairness, and converges to the ideal performance as the minimum backoff interval increases, while achieving high channel throughput. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An effective medium contention method to improve the performance of IEEE 802.11

In this paper, we propose an effective medium access mechanism to enhance performance of the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF). One of the primary issues of 802.11 is a contention-based medium access control (MAC) mechanism over a limited medium, which is shared by many mobile users. In the original 802.11 DCF, the binary exponential backoff algorithm with specific contention window size is employed to coordinate the competition for shared channel. Instead of binary exponential increase, we adopt linear increase for the contention window that is determined according to the competing number of nodes. We also assume that the access point can broadcast the number of mobile nodes to each station through management frames. An analytical model is developed for the throughput performance of the wireless medium. Using simulation results from the NS2 simulator, we show that our model can accurately predict the system saturation throughput, and can obtain better performance in terms of throughput, fairness, and packet drop.     

A Beacon-Based Collision-Free Channel Access Scheme for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

In IEEE 802.11 based WLAN standard, distributed coordination function is the fundamental medium access control (MAC) technique. It employs a CSMA/CA with random binary exponential backoff algorithm and provides contention-based distributed channel access for stations to share the wireless medium. However, performance of this mechanism drops dramatically due to random structure of the backoff process, high collision probability and frame errors. That is why development of an efficient MAC protocol, providing both high throughput for data traffic and quality of service (QoS) support for real-time applications, has become a major focus in WLAN research. In this paper, we propose an adaptive beacon-based collision-free MAC adaptation. The proposed scheme makes use of beacon frames sent periodically by access point, lets stations enter the collision-free state and reduces the number of idle slots regardless of the number of stations and their traffic load (saturated or unsaturated) on the medium. Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme dramatically enhances the overall throughput and supports QoS by reducing the delay, delay variation and dropping probability of frames.     

Enhancing channel utilization by improving media access coordination in wireless local area networks

Distributed coordination function (DCF) is the basis protocol for IEEE 802.11 standard wireless local area networks. It is based on carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) mechanism. DCF uses backoff process to avoid collisions on the wireless channel. The main drawback with this process is that packets have to spend time in the backoff process which is an additional overhead in their transmission time. The channel is rendered idle when all the stations defer their transmissions due to their backoff process. Therefore, the channel utilization and the total throughput on the channel can be improved by reducing the average time spent by the packets in the backoff process. In this paper, we propose a new media access coordination function called proposed media access protocol (PMAP) that will improve the channel utilization for successful packet transmission and therefore, the total achievable throughput. In addition, we propose an analytical model for PMAP under saturated conditions. We use this model to analyze the performance of PMAP under saturated conditions. To substantiate the effectiveness of our model, we have verified the model by simulating PMAP in NS‐2. Simulation and analytical results show that under saturated conditions, PMAP shows profound improvement in the throughput performance compared to DCF. In addition, the throughput performance of PMAP under unsaturated conditions is presented. We have also presented the delay performance of PMAP and DCF through simulation in both saturated and unsaturated conditions. Simulation results show that the average delay experienced by the packets is less in PMAP compared to DCF. Further, the variance in the packet delay is same for both PMAP and DCF protocols under unsaturated conditions. From the performance results obtained for PMAP under both saturated and unsaturated conditions, it can be concluded that PMAP is superior in performance compared to DCF. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On optimizing the backoff interval for random access schemes

To improve channel throughput and the fairness of random access channels, we propose a new backoff algorithm, namely, the sensing backoff algorithm (SBA). A novel feature of the SBA scheme is the sensing mechanism, in which every node modifies its backoff interval according to the results of the sensed channel activities. In particular, every active node sensing a successful transmission decreases its backoff interval by an additive factor of the transmission time of a packet. In order to find the optimum parameters for the SBA scheme, we have studied the optimum backoff intervals as a function of different numbers of active nodes (N) in a single transmission area with pure ALOHA-type channels. We find that the optimum backoff interval should be 4N times the packet transmission time when the random access channel operates under a pure ALOHA scheme. Based on this result, we have calculated numerically the optimum values of the parameters for SBA, which are independent of N. The SBA scheme operates close to the optimum backoff interval. Furthermore, its operation does not depend on a knowledge of N. The optimum backoff interval and the SBA scheme have been studied also by simulation. It is shown that the SBA scheme out-performs other backoff schemes, such as binary exponential backoff (BEB) and multiplicative increase linear decrease (MILD). As a point of reference, the SBA scheme offers a channel capacity of 0.19 when N is 10, while the MILD scheme can only offer 0.125. The performance gain is about 50%.     

Sequential Coordination Function for Throughput and Fairness Enhancement of Wireless LANs

High throughput and fair resource sharing are two of the most important objectives in designing a medium access control (MAC) protocol. Currently, most MAC protocols including IEEE 802.11 DCF adopt a random access based approach in a distributed manner in order to coordinate the wireless channel accesses among competing stations. In this paper, we first identify that a random access?Cbased MAC protocol may suffer from MAC protocol overhead such as a random backoff for data transmission and a collision among simultaneously transmitting stations. Then, we propose a new MAC protocol, called sequential coordination function (SCF), which coordinates every station to send a data frame sequentially one after another in a distributed manner. By defining a service period and a joining period, the SCF eliminates unnecessary contentions during the service period, and by explicitly determining the sequence of frame transmission for each stations, it reduces collision occurrences and ensures fairness among stations in the service period. The performance of SCF is investigated through intensive simulations, which show that the SCF achieves higher throughput and fairness performances than other existing MAC protocols in a wide range of the traffic load and the number of stations.     

EBA: an enhancement of the IEEE 802.11 DCF via distributed reservation

The IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs) employs a medium access control (MAC), called distributed coordination function (DCF), which is based on carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). The collision avoidance mechanism utilizes the random backoff prior to each frame transmission attempt. The random nature of the backoff reduces the collision probability, but cannot completely eliminate collisions. It is known that the throughput performance of the 802.11 WLAN is significantly compromised as the number of stations increases. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed reservation-based MAC protocol, called early backoff announcement (EBA), which is backward compatible with the legacy DCF. Under EBA, a station announces its future backoff information in terms of the number of backoff slots via the MAC header of its frame being transmitted. All the stations receiving the information avoid collisions by excluding the same backoff duration when selecting their future backoff value. Through extensive simulations, EBA is found to achieve a significant increase in the throughput performance as well as a higher degree of fairness compared to the 802.11 DCF.     

A Multichain Backoff Mechanism for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

The distributed coordination function (DCF) of IEEE 802.11 standard adopts the binary exponential backoff (BEB) for collision avoidance. In DCF, the contention window is reset to an initial value, i.e., CWmin, after each successful transmission. Much research has shown that this dramatic change of window size may degrade the network performance. Therefore, backoff algorithms, such as gentle DCF (GDCF), multiplicative increase–linear decrease (MILD), exponential increase–exponential decrease (EIED), etc., have been proposed that try to keep the memory of congestion level by not resetting the contention window after each successful transmission. This paper proposes a multichain backoff (MCB) algorithm, which allows stations to adapt to different congestion levels by using more than one backoff chain together with collision events caused by stations themselves as well as other stations as indications for choosing the next backoff chain. The performance of MCB is analyzed and compared with those of 802.11 DCF, GDCF, MILD, and EIED backoff algorithms. Simulation results show that, with multiple backoff chains and collision events as reference for chain transition, MCB can offer a higher throughput while still maintaining fair channel access than the existing backoff algorithms.     

Design and performance analysis on adaptive reservation-assisted collision resolution protocol for WLANs

In conventional IEEE 802.11 medium access control protocol, the distributed coordination function is designed for the wireless stations (WSs) to perform channel contention within the wireless local area networks (WLANs). Packet collision is considered one of the major issues within this type of contention-based scheme, which can severely degrade network performance for the WLANs. Research work has been conducted to modify the random backoff mechanism in order to alleviate the packet collision problem while the WSs are contending for channel access. However, most of the existing work can only provide limited throughput enhancement under specific number of WSs within the network. In this paper, an adaptive reservation-assisted collision resolution (ARCR) protocol is proposed to improve packet collision resulting from the random access schemes. With its adaptable reservation period, the contention-based channel access can be adaptively transformed into a reservation-based system if there are pending packets required to be transmitted between the WSs and the access point. Analytical model is derived for the proposed ARCR scheme in order to evaluate and validate its throughput performance. It can be observed from both analytical and simulation results that the proposed protocol outperforms existing schemes with enhanced channel utilization and network throughput.     

E-BEB: Enhanced Binary Exponential Backoff Algorithm for Multi-hop Wireless Ad-hoc Networks

Binary exponential backoff algorithm is the de-facto medium access control protocol for wireless local area networks, and it has been employed as the standard contention resolution algorithm in multi-hop wireless ad-hoc networks. However, this algorithm does not function well in multi-hop wireless environments due to its several performance issues and technical limitations. In this paper, we propose a simple, efficient, priority provision, and well performed contention resolution algorithm called enhanced binary exponential backoff (E-BEB) algorithm for impartial channel access in multi-hop wireless ad-hoc networks. We also provide a simple and accurate analytical model to study the system saturation throughput of the proposed scheme. Simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of E-BEB algorithm. The results show that the E-BEB algorithm can alleviate the fairness problem and support multimedia transmission in multi-hop wireless environments.     

Medium access control priority mechanism for a DQMAN-based wireless network

The analysis of an access priority mechanism for a high-performance Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, the Distributed Queueing MAC protocol for wireless Ad Hoc Networks (DQMAN), is presented in this letter. DQMAN is comprised of a hierarchical, dynamic, and spontaneous masterslave clustering algorithm together with an embedded treesplitting collision resolution algorithm based on access minislots. The responsibility of being master entails extra functionality, and thus extra energy consumption. Therefore, this responsibility must be shared in a dynamic manner among all the stations of the network in order to ensure fairness in the system. By allowing those stations acting as master stations to avoid contention to get access to the channel, their average packet transmission delay can be effectively reduced compared to that of slave stations. Consequently, stations may be encouraged to operate in master mode regardless of the extra functions they may have to carry out. We analyze in this letter the reduced average packet transmission delay for masters.     

The IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function in Small-Scale Ad-Hoc Wireless LANs

The IEEE 802.11 standards for wireless local area networks define how the stations of an ad-hoc wireless network coordinate in order to share the medium efficiently. This work investigates the performance of such a network by considering the two different access mechanisms proposed in these standards. The IEEE 802.11 access mechanisms are based on the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol using a binary slotted exponential backoff mechanism. The basic CSMA/CA mechanism uses an acknowledgment message at the end of each transmitted packet, whereas the request to send/clear to send (RTS/CTS) CSMA/CA mechanism also uses a RTS/CTS message exchange before transmitting a packet. In this work, we analyze these two access mechanisms in terms of throughput and delay. Extensive numerical results are presented to highlight the characteristics of each access mechanism and to define the dependence of each mechanism on the backoff procedure parameters.     

Dynamic tuning of the IEEE 802.11 protocol to achieve a theoreticalthroughput limit

In wireless LANs (WLANs), the medium access control (MAC) protocol is the main element that determines the efficiency in sharing the limited communication bandwidth of the wireless channel. In this paper we focus on the efficiency of the IEEE 802.11 standard for WLANs. Specifically, we analytically derive the average size of the contention window that maximizes the throughput, hereafter theoretical throughput limit, and we show that: 1) depending on the network configuration, the standard can operate very far from the theoretical throughput limit; and 2) an appropriate tuning of the backoff algorithm can drive the IEEE 802.11 protocol close to the theoretical throughput limit. Hence we propose a distributed algorithm that enables each station to tune its backoff algorithm at run-time. The performances of the IEEE 802.11 protocol, enhanced with our algorithm, are extensively investigated by simulation. Specifically, we investigate the sensitiveness of our algorithm to some network configuration parameters (number of active stations, presence of hidden terminals). Our results indicate that the capacity of the enhanced protocol is very close to the theoretical upper bound in all the configurations analyzed     

基于IEEE802.11的星间链路最短接入时延退避算法

为满足空间信息网络低轨卫星用户多址接入骨干中继卫星的访问需求,基于IEEE 802.11机制,提出最短接入时延退避算法（Delay-Optimal Backoff,DOB）,可解决大时空尺度条件下,传统二进制退避算法（Binary Exponential Backoff,BEB）造成的网络平均接入时延高和吞吐量低的问题.根据用户卫星与中继卫星的相对位置特性,设定中继卫星通信窗口,利用通信窗口内不同用户卫星数量时用户接入时延与平均接入请求概率的变化关系,确定最短接入时延条件下用户平均接入请求概率,实现动态调整碰撞窗口大小.研究结果表明,该算法使网络接入时延较BEB算法平均降低了10s,饱和吞吐量提升一倍,归一化业务量阈值比BEB算法增加至0.6,网络多址接入性能显著提高.     

Self-coordinating localized fair queueing in wireless ad hoc networks

Distributed fair queueing in a multihop, wireless ad hoc network is challenging for several reasons. First, the wireless channel is shared among multiple contending nodes in a spatial locality. Location-dependent channel contention complicates the fairness notion. Second, the sender of a flow does not have explicit information regarding the contending flows originated from other nodes. Fair queueing over ad hoc networks is a distributed scheduling problem by nature. Finally, the wireless channel capacity is a scarce resource. Spatial channel reuse, i.e., simultaneous transmissions of flows that do not interfere with each other, should be encouraged whenever possible. In this paper, we reexamine the fairness notion in an ad hoc network using a graph-theoretic formulation and extract the fairness requirements that an ad hoc fair queueing algorithm should possess. To meet these requirements, we propose maximize-local-minimum fair queueing (MLM-FQ), a novel distributed packet scheduling algorithm where local schedulers self-coordinate their scheduling decisions and collectively achieve fair bandwidth sharing. We then propose enhanced MLM-FQ (EMLM-FQ) to further improve the spatial channel reuse and limit the impact of inaccurate scheduling information resulted from collisions. EMLM-FQ achieves statistical short-term throughput and delay bounds over the shared wireless channel. Analysis and extensive simulations confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of our self-coordinating localized design in providing global fair channel access in wireless ad hoc networks.     

一种用于移动自组织网的多址接入动态时延退避策略

在移动Ad Hoc网络中，信道接入公平性和吞吐率是MAC协议需解决的重要问题，而IEEE802．11等协议采用的二进制指数退避算法BEB难以满足公平性要求。本文提出了一种基于对节点竞争失败次数（无效RTS）进行计数的方法估计信道争用情况，动态地分配退避计数器初值，从而实现移动Ad Hoc网络的公平多址接入。研究表明，该接入方法能够有效地反映源节点特性，接入公平性好，同时在高负荷和低负荷的情况下，都能提高网络吞吐量，提供良好的QoS保障。     

Performance analysis of exponential backoff

New analytical results are given for the performance of the exponential backoff (EB) algorithm. Most available studies on EB focus on the stability of the algorithm and little attention has been paid to the performance analysis of EB. In this paper, we analyze EB and obtain saturation throughput and medium access delay of a packet for a given number of nodes N. The analysis considers the general case of EB with backoff factor r; binary exponential backoff (BEB) algorithm is the special case with r=2. We also derive the analytical performance of EB with maximum retry limit M (EB-M), a practical version of EB. The accuracy of the analysis is checked against simulation results.     

A short-term fair MAC protocol for WLANs

Designing a medium access control (MAC) protocol that simultaneously provides high throughput and allows individual users to share limited spectrum resources fairly, especially in the short-term time horizon, is a challenging problem for wireless LANs. In this paper, we propose an efficient cooperative MAC protocol with very simple state information that considers only collisions, like the standard IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol. However, contrary to the IEEE 802.11 MAC, the cooperative MAC gives collided users priority to access the channel by assigning them shorter backoff counters and interframe-spaces than users who did not participate in the collision event. In other words, collided users are the only ones allowed to transmit in the following contention period. For the cooperative MAC protocol, we utilize an analytical throughput model to obtain the optimal parameter settings. Simulation results show that the cooperative MAC provides significant improvement in short-term fairness and access delay, while still providing high network throughput.     

On MAC optimization for large-scale wireless sensor network

The media access control (MAC) performance of a large-scale wireless sensor network (L-WSN) determines the efficiency of the wireless communication channel. A good MAC protocol could reduce network energy consumption and network delay, which are two problems to be solved urgently in L-WSN. In this paper, we proposed a multi-level integrated MAC protocol (MI-MAC) to solve the overall performance optimization problem of L-WSN. Compared with other protocols, MI-MAC has two mainly improved performances: (1) It improved binary exponential backoff algorithm by twice back off strategy; (2) It designed a sending and receiving algorithm based on the threshold value to recognize control frames (small frames), which effectively avoids the collision probability of data frame. The simulation results show that the MI-MAC protocol improves network throughput and delay performance, significantly reduces energy consumption, and obtains overall network optimization.