Effects of AdHocMACLayerMediumAccessMechanisms Under TCP.pdfVIP

Effects of Ad Hoc MAC Layer Medium Access Mechanisms Under TCP Ken Tang, Mario Correa, Mario Gerla Computer Science Department University of California, Los Angeles {ktang, mcorrea, gerla}@ Abstract Mobile computing is the way of the future, as evide nt by such initiatives as Bluetooth, Iceberg and Ho meRF. However, for mobile computing to be successful, an obvious layer, the MAC layer, must be efficient in channel access and reservation.Therefore, in-depth unders tanding is needed of the wireless MAC layer if wire less computing is to takeoff.Many random access wirele ss MAC protocols have been proposed and even standa rdized. However, there has yet been an attempt to understan d why certain designs are used and what makes certa in protocols better than others.In this paper, we su rvey several popular, contemporary, wireless, rando m access MAC protocols and determine the effects behind the desi gn choices of these protocols. 1. Introduction Mobile computing has proliferated in recent years. Initiatives, such as Bluetooth [7], Iceberg [8] and HomeRF [11], are making wireless networking a reality.Such tec hnologies allow for wireless communications between numerous devices, such as the PC, PDA, cellular and cordless