Analysis of a Hybrid Access Scheme for Buffered Users-Probabilistic Time Division

A new multiple access scheme is proposed and evaluated. The proposed scheme combines desirable features of the ordinary time-division (TDMA) and the random access (RA) schemes. It is shown that by adjusting the value of a single parameter a, the proposed access method can vary continuously from one extreme (TDMA) to the other (RA). The average delay per packet and the throughput can be improved for intermediate values of the load factor. Furthermore, the method can control the channel instability.