Receiver-initiated busy-tone multiple access in packet radio networks

Abstract

The ALOHA and Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) protocols have been proposed for packet radio networks (PRN). However, CSMA/CD which gives superior performance and has been successful applied in local area networks cannot be readily applied in PRN since the locally generated signals will overwhelm a remote transmission, rendering it impossible to tell whether a collision has occurred or not. In addition, CSMA and CSMA/CD suffer from the “hidden node” problem in a multihop PRN. In this paper, we develop the Receiver-Initiated Busy-Tone Multiple Access Protocol to resolve these difficulties. Both fully connected and multihop networks are studied. The busy tone serves as an acknowledgement and prevents conflicting transmissions from other nodes, including “hidden nodes”.