Cross-Layer Modeling of Wireless Ad Hoc Networks in the Presence of Channel Noise

We present a new analytical model of MAC layer for wireless ad hoc networks that takes into account channel bit errors and frame retry limits for a two-way handshaking mechanism. This model offers flexibility to address key design issues such as the effects of traffic parameters and possible improvements for wireless ad hoc networks. We illustrate that an important parameter affecting the performance of binary exponential back-off is the initial back-off window size. We show that for a low bit error rate the throughput increases and, at the same time, the delay and the average energy to transmit the frame is reduced. Results show also that the negative acknowledgment (NAK)-based model proves more useful for a high bit error rate.