Reservation domains in MAC protocols for broadband PLC networks

Abstract

Because of their capability to provide good network utilization and provide realization of QoS for various telecommunications services, as well as because of their robustness against disturbances, reservation MAC protocols are considered for application in broadband PLC access networks. In this investigation, we consider realization of QoS for various telecommunications services in networks using reservation MAC protocols, which apply different reservation domains. We investigate possibilities for application of the packet voice service in network models using different reservation domains and compare their performance. We can conclude that the choice of an optimal reservation domain depends strongly on the kind of services for which the reservation is carried out per-packet reservation domain is suitable data services without particular time-critical requirements. On the other hand, per-burst reservation is suitable for data services with higher QoS requirements, such as packet voice service. Therefore, a combination of various reservation principles depending on requested services seems to be a suitable solution for the reservation domain.