Cross-Layer Exploitation of MAC Layer Diversity in Wireless Networks

Cao, Min; Raghunathan, Vivek; Kumar, P.R.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/99596 Copy

Description

Title

Cross-Layer Exploitation of MAC Layer Diversity in Wireless Networks

Author(s)

• Cao, Min
• Raghunathan, Vivek
• Kumar, P.R.

Issue Date

2006-05

Keyword(s)

• Protocols
• MAC diversity
• Multi-channel MAC
• Fading
• Measurements
• Performance analysis

Abstract

The conventional function of the medium access control (MAC) layer in wireless networks is interference management. We show how the MAC can also be used to mitigate the effect of fading. We begin by providing experimental data to demonstrate that multipath fading effects are seen at the MAC layer. These effects appear at timescales on the same order of the IEEE 802.11 protocol and therefore, interact negatively with the RTS-CTS-DATA-ACK handshake. We identify two types of MAC diversities to jointly combat fading and interference, called multi-receiver diversity and multi-channel diversity, respectively, through canonical scenarios. In order to harness these MAC layer diversities, we propose a simple dynamic-binding multi-channel MAC (DB-MCMAC) protocol that is backward compatible with IEEE 802.11. DB-MCMAC exploits MAC diversities by opportunistically acquiring the floor for the best receiver on each channel, and dynamically binding data transmissions after the floor has been acquired. We employ a simple continuous time Markov chain model to analyze the expected performance of the DB-MCMAC protocol. We have carried out a comprehensive performance evaluation of DB-MCMAC using ns-2. Simulation results show that DB-MCMAC can successfully harness multi-receiver and multi-channel fading and interference diversities to provide considerable improvements over a baseline multi-channel MAC in several situations.

Publisher

Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Series/Report Name or Number

Coordinated Science Laboratory Report no. UILU-ENG-06-2206, DC-223

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/99596

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• DARPA/AFOSR, AFOSR, USARO, NSF, and DARPA / F49620-02-1-0325, F49620-02-1-0217, DAAD19-01010-465,
• Vodafone Graduate Fellowship

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