Bounds and parameter optimization of medium access control coding for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks

The use of codes to schedule transmissions is an attractive technique able to guarantee a non-zero throughput medium access performance for the nodes of a wireless ad hoc or sensor network regardless of network topology variations. Some authors refer to this technique as topology-transparent scheduling. In this paper, we use the term MAC coding in order to emphasize the exclusive use of codes to achieve topology-transparency within the MAC sub-layer. We present a new upper bound expression on the guaranteed throughput achievable by any linear code used in a MAC coding context. This bound proves to be tighter than the one obtained when the minimum distance of the code is equal to its length. Additionally, we derive new and simple closed analytical expressions for the parameters of maximum distance separable codes that maximize the minimum, average, or joint minimum–average throughput of MAC coding. The optimization methods presented here are also applicable to other codes with available analytical expressions for their minimum distance and distance distribution. Finally, we present system-level simulation results of MAC coding on static and dynamic topologies with mobility and including wireless channel errors. Throughput simulation results are compared with their corresponding analytical expressions and to a random scheduling approach. The results show agreement with analysis and confirm the robustness of MAC coding in maintaining minimum levels of performance with good average performance and graceful degradation.