Beaconing in distributed controlwireless PAN: problems and solutions

In this paper, we investigate beaconing problems in Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) with distributed control, which is being developed by Multi-Band OFDM Alliance. The problems are related to collision that is caused by multiple access to a piconet; and the collision resolution that is used in the MBOA MAC, i.e. random slot allocation for devices’ beacons. The collision problem and the current resolution may cause deadlock and prevent other devices from joining a piconet. We propose new solutions to resolve the collision without causing potential deadlock. We develop an analytical model to evaluate performance of the new schemes. The model can also be employed to determine parameters to achieve optimized performance.