A busy-tone based directional MAC protocol for ad hoc networks

Abstract

In mobile wireless ad hoc networking environments, such as the future combat system (FCS), the shared wireless communication medium is an inherently limited resource and is collision prone. In this paper, we propose to adapt the dual busy tone multiple access (DBTMA) protocol for use with directional antennas, which further increases effective channel capacity. In contrast to other directional antenna based MAC protocols, our protocol, termed DBTMA/DA, is capable of reserving channel capacity in finer grain without relying on extra locationing support. A simulation study is performed to demonstrate the better network performance of DBTMA/DA over DBTMA and the IEEE 802.11a MAC protocols.