On selfish behavior using asymmetric carrier sensing in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

Abstract

The IEEE 802.11 utilizes carrier sensing mechanism to support multiple users effectively with small number of collisions. However, if there are hidden nodes, IEEE 802.11 nodes suffer from consecutive collisions and experience extremely low throughput. Due to the nature of non-cooperative property, every 802.11 node tries to maximize its own throughput irrespective of total network performance. In this paper, we show that 802.11 node can achieve higher throughput by intentionally reducing its carrier sensing range in some cases. Based on simulations, we also show that adjusting carrier sense threshold may bring about undesirable Nash equilibrium in terms of total network performance in game-theoretical model.