Approximate analysis of MAC protocol with multiple self-tokens in a slotted ring

Ring networks are very commonly exploited among local area and metropolitan area networks (LAN/MAN), whereas cells or small fixed-size packets are widely used in synchronized ring networks. In this paper, we present an analytical method for evaluating the delay-throughput performance of a MAC protocol with multiple self-tokens in a slotted ring network under uniform traffic. In our analysis, we introduce the stationary probability, which indicates the number of packets in a node. Also, it is assumed that each node has a sufficiently large amount of self-tokens, and a slotted ring has the symmetry. The analytical results with respect to delay-throughput performance have similar values to computer simulated ones. Furthermore, in order to achieve fair access under non-uniform traffic, we propose an adaptive MAC protocol, where the number of self-tokens in a node dynamically varies, based on the number of packets transmitted within a specified period. In the proposed protocol, when the number of packets transmitted by a node within a specified period is larger than a specified threshold, the node decreases the number of self-tokens in a per-node distributed method. That results in creating free slots in the ring, thus all nodes can obtain an equal opportunity to transmit into the ring. Performance results obtained by computer simulation show that our proposed protocol can maintain throughput fairness under non-uniform traffic.