Rate-Distance Adaptation of MAC Protocols

In wireless communication systems, the signal strength/quality generally varies with the distances between transmitters and receivers. As a consequence, the throughput in the MAC layer (or the transmission data rate in the PHY layer) also varies accordingly. In this paper, the authors call this phenomenon as the rate-distance nature of the wireless communications. Inspired by their success in the study of the random distances between nodes in the wireless ad hoc networks, they pioneer employing the distance-related concept to study the rate-distance nature of the multiple access protocols. By selecting slotted Aloha as a pilot multiple access protocol, they successfully analyze and demonstrate the rate-distance adaptability of slotted Aloha.