ABSTRACT
Previous research in wireless ad hoc networks typically assumes the use of omnidirectional antennas at all nodes. With omnidirectional antennas, while two nodes are communicating using a given channel, MAC protocols such as IEEE 802.11 require all other nodes in the vicinity to stay silent. With directional antennas, two pairs of nodes located in each other's vicinity may potentially communicate simultaneously, depending on the directions of transmission. This can increase spatial reuse of the wireless channel. In addition, the higher gain of directional antennas allows a node to communicate with other nodes located far away, implying that messages could be delivered to the destination in fewer hops. In this paper, we propose a MAC protocol that exploits the characteristics of directional antennas. Our design focuses on using multi-hop RTSs to establish links between distant nodes, and then transmit CTS, DATA and ACK over a single hop. Results show that our directional MAC protocol can perform better than IEEE 802.11, although we find that the performance is dependent on the topology configuration and the flow patterns in the system.
- C. Balanis et al. "Smart Antennas for Future Reconfigurable Wireless Communciation Networks", Annual Report, April, 2000. Arizona State University, http://www.eas.asu.edu/trccomm/nsf/presentations/Annual_Report.pdf.Google Scholar
- S. Bandyopadhyay, K. Hausike, S. Horisawa and S. Tawara, "An Adaptive MAC and Directional Routing Protocol for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks Using ESPAR Antenna", ACM MobiHoc, October 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- V. Bharghavan, "Performance Analysis of a Medium Access Protocol for Wireless Packet Networks", IEEE Performance and Dependability Symposium, Raleigh, NC. August 1998.Google Scholar
- A. Chandra V. Gummalla and J. O. Limb, "Wireless Medium Access Control Protocols", IEEE Communications. Surveys and Tutorials, vol. 3, no. 2, Second Quarter 2000. Google ScholarDigital Library
- P. Gupta and P. R. Kumar, "The Capacity of Wireless Networks" , IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, pp. 388-404, vol. IT-46, no. 2, March 2000. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. Horneffer and D. Plassmann, "Directed Antennas in Mobile Broadband Systems", IEEE INFOCOM, pp. 704-712, April 1996. Google ScholarDigital Library
- P. Karn, "MACA - A New Channel Access Method for Packet Radio", 9th ARRL Computer Networking Conference, Ontario, Canada, 1990.Google Scholar
- Y.-B. Ko, V. Shankarkumar and N. H. Vaidya, "Medium access control protocols using directional antennas in ad hoc networks" Proc. of the IEEE INFOCOM, March 2000.Google Scholar
- A. Nasipuri, S. Ye, J. You and R. Hiromoto, "A MAC Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks using Directional Antennas", IEEE WCNC, Chicago, IL, September 2000.Google ScholarCross Ref
- "Qualnet simulator version 2.6.1", Scalable Network Technologies, www.scalable-networks.com.Google Scholar
- R. Ramanathan, "On the Performance of Ad Hoc Networks with Beamforming Antennas", ACM MobiHoc, October 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J. Redi and R. Ramanathan, "Utilizing Directional Antennas for Ad Hoc Networks", IEEE Milcom, 2002 (classified volume).Google Scholar
- R. Roy Choudhury, X. Yang and N. H. Vaidya, "Using Directional Antennas in Ad Hoc Networks", Final Report submitted from Texas A&M University to BBN Technologies for work done through July 2001.Google Scholar
- R. Roy Choudhury and N. H. Vaidya, "Ad Hoc Routing Using Directional Antennas", Technical Report, Coordinated Science Laborotary, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, August 2002.Google Scholar
- E. Royer, S. J. Lee and C. Perkins, "The Effects of MAC Protocols on Ad Hoc Network Communication", IEEE WCNC, Chicago, IL, September 2000.Google ScholarCross Ref
- M. Sanchez, T. Giles, and J. Zander, "CSMA/CA with Beam Forming Antennas in Multi-hop Packet Radio", Swedish Workshop on Wireless Ad Hoc Networks, Mar. 5-6, 2001.Google Scholar
- M. Takai, J. Martin, R. Bagrodia and A. Ren, "Directional Virtual Carrier Sensing for Directional Antennas in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks", ACM MobiHoc, June 2002. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J. Ward and R. Crompton, "Improving the performance of slotted ALOHA packet radio networks with adaptive arrays", IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 40, no. 11, pp 1716-1724, 1992.Google Scholar
- T. S. Yum and K. W. Hung, "Design Algorithms for Multihop Packet Radio Networks with Multiple Directional Antennas", IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 40, no. 11 pp. 1716-1724, 1992.Google ScholarCross Ref
- J. Zander, "Slotted ALOHA multihop packet radio networks with directional antennas", Electronic Letters 26(25), 1990.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Using directional antennas for medium access control in ad hoc networks
Recommendations
Power-controlled medium access for ad hoc networks with directional antennas
Directional antennas have the potential to significantly improve the throughput of a wireless ad hoc network. At the same time, energy consumption can be considerably reduced if the network implements per-packet transmission power control. Typical MAC ...
On Designing MAC Protocols for Wireless Networks Using Directional Antennas
We investigate the possibility of using directional antennas for medium access control in wireless ad hoc networks. Previous research in ad hoc networks typically assumes the use of omnidirectional antennas at all nodes. With omnidirectional antennas, ...
Directional medium access control for ad hoc networks
Using directional antennas in ad hoc networks may introduce the well-known deafness problem, exacerbate the hidden terminal problem and the exposed terminal problem, add difficulty on mobile communication, and distort the operation of existing routing ...
Comments