Full Duplex Radio in High Density Future Wireless Communication Networks

Abstract

Recent emerges in applications to handle high density future wireless communication networks allowed the increase of full duplex (FD) communication systems. Although sharing one frequency band simultaneously allows spectrum efficiency, difficulties arise on such a complex system. In this paper, we put a spotlight on the medium access layer (MAC) layer as five MAC protocols are introduced: two half duplex (HD) MAC protocols and three FD MAC protocols. The two HD protocols are the traditional distributed coordination function (DCF) carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocols. The remaining three FD protocols, our contributions, are FD Sensing, FD with request to send (RTS)/clear to send (CTS), and FD without RTS/CTS. The models are tested on the IEEE 802.11a and the IEEE 802.11ax standards in the 5 GHz band over a 20 MHz bandwidth. The evaluated goodput and signal-to-interference-plus-noise (SINR) show that the proposed FD MAC protocols out-match that of classical HD radios under certain network conditions with average gains up to 3.41x for IEEE 802.11a and 3.38x for IEEE 802.11ax, and a minimum self-interference suppression (SIS) value of 76 dB.