An Efficient TDMA MAC Protocol for Multi-hop WiFi-Based Long Distance Networks

Abstract

Multi-hop WiFi-based long distance (WiLD) network is considered to be a cost-effective solution for extending Internet to rural underserved areas. In such gateway-based mesh architecture, interference-free scheduling of transmission is critical in optimizing overall network performance. In this paper, we propose an efficient TDMA-based MAC protocol for gateway-based multi-hop WiLD networks for enhancing end-to-end throughput and delay performances. The possibility of collision which exists in token-based MAC protocols has been reduced significantly by employing inherent node synchronization mechanism. The proposed protocol enhances network performance by utilizing the available bandwidth through maximization of TDMA slots overlapping. It shows clear improvement over relevant MAC protocols in terms of saturation throughput as well as average end-to-end packet delay over multiple hops.