Distributed Multiple Access with Multiple Transmission Options at The Link Layer

TL;DR

This paper proposes a distributed medium access control framework for wireless networks with multiple transmission options, enabling users to adapt their schemes based on feedback to optimize network utility.

Contribution

It introduces a novel adaptive algorithm that uses success probability feedback to estimate user count and optimize transmission strategies in a distributed manner.

Findings

The algorithm converges to a unique equilibrium under certain conditions.

Simulation results show the algorithm's effectiveness in maximizing network utility.

The framework improves medium access efficiency with multiple transmission options.

Abstract

This paper investigates the problem of distributed medium access control in a wireless multiple access network with an unknown finite number of homogeneous transmitters. An enhanced physical link layer interface is considered where each link layer user can be equipped with multiple transmission options. Assume that each user is backlogged with a saturated message queue. With a generally-modeled channel, a distributed medium access control framework is suggested to adapt the transmission scheme of each user to maximize an arbitrarily chosen symmetric network utility. The proposed framework suggests that the receiver should measure the success probability of a carefully designed virtual packet, and feed such information back to the transmitters. Upon receiving the measured probability, each transmitter should obtain a user number estimate by comparing the probability with its theoretical value, and then adapt its transmission scheme accordingly. Conditions under which the proposed algorithm should converge to a designed unique equilibrium are characterized. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the optimality and the convergence properties of the proposed algorithm.