On-demand device discovery enhancement of IEEE802.15.3 MAC for 60GHz WPAN system

Abstract

Because of the unknown position of devices in ad-hoc network, it is difficult for the MAC to discover other devices by using directional antenna. This device discovery procedure needs extra signaling and costs considerable time, especially if there are a lot of devices. In this paper, on top of IEEE 802.15.3 MAC, we introduce the ultra superframe concept and propose an on-demand device discovery mechanism that significantly reduces signaling overhead, therefore speeds up the device discovery process and increases channel efficiency. Computer simulations show that, assuming up to 64 uniformly distributed devices, this MAC enhancement accomplishes device discovery procedure within 200 ms while keeping channel efficiency over 70% under 60 GHz channel environment.