A Unified Algorithm for Medium Access Control Protocols

• Main Authors: Chao-Ming Teng, 鄧兆旻
• Other Authors: Kwang-Cheng Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/93803541058752956743

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 電信工程學研究所 === 89 === In a computer/communication network, the medium access control (MAC) protocol is one of the most essential components if the transmission media is of the broadcast type. Typical examples are wireless networks, hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) cable TV networks, Ethernet, and so on. Efficient MAC protocols enable maximum utilization of the shared medium and meet specific service requirements such as delay or jitter constraints. Research on medium access control (MAC) protocols for various types of networks has been conducted for more than 30 years. Countless protocols have been designed for different network architectures and under different criteria. Our work unified these MAC protocols into one algorithm with parameters for configuration. One may configure the unified algorithm into different MAC protocols by setting parameters we provide. Our work is based on the concept of Multi-Layer Collision Anticipation/Resolution (MULCAR) proposed by Chen and Sun. We in this thesis first review the concept of MULCAR and start to design our unified algorithm. The ALOHA, Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) family protocols, Group Random Addressed Polling (GRAP) protocol and MAC protocol for IEEE 802.14 are incorporated into our unified algorithm. With the unified algorithm, we provide a unified performance analysis model and use it to analyze the performance of ALOHA/CSMA family protocols and GRAP protocol. This unified algorithm is the first step toward a software defined MAC controller. Since this unified algorithm can be configured into different MAC protocols, a MAC controller designed based on this unified algorithm can also be configured into different MAC controllers for different network environments. A reconfigurable MAC controller is our ultimate goal, and the unified algorithm is the foundation on which the MAC controller should be based.