Exploiting multi-user diversity in wireless LANs with channel-aware CSMA/CA

Abstract

This paper presents a channel-aware access scheme for Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) aiming to take advantage of multi-user diversity and improve throughput, while supporting distributed and asynchronous operation. By dynamically adjusting the contention window of each station (STA) according to its channel state, this method prioritizes STAs that gain most from using a channel, and hence, enhances channel utilization in comparison with a simple random access scheme. To model the proposed Adaptive CSMA/CA (A-CSMA/CA) protocol, a three-dimensional Markov chain is developed. With the aid of such model, performance of the proposed A-CSMA/CA is analytically studied in terms of saturation throughput. Furthermore, illustrative results confirm that A-CSMA/CA significantly improves the throughput, specifically in a large network