Performance of random multiple access scheme under long-range-dependent traffic

Abstract

ALOHA-based random-access schemes have been extensively used in mobile, satellite, and other communications multiple-access networks. They are frequently employed by demand-assigned multiple access protocols for regulating access into control (order-wire type) channels for the transmission of reservation packets. We study the performance of a random-access scheme when loaded by traffic processes that exhibit long range dependence (LRD). The LRD traffic flows are modeled as multiplicative multifractal processes. The random access scheme is represented as the prototypical ALOHA channel with blocking. Five key parameters are introduced to characterize the scheme. We show that the key feature dictating the performance of an ALOHA channel is not the LRD nature of the loading traffic processes, but rather the burstiness level of these processes. When the LRD traffic process is not very bursty, we show that the performance of the random-access channel can be much better than that produced under Poisson traffic loading; otherwise, a distinct performance degradation takes place. The parameters of the system are carefully tuned so that the algorithm operates effectively under the loading multifractal traffic process, over a wide range of burstiness level conditions.