Multi-user receiver capacity optimization for Ad Hoc networks

In general the performance of ad hoc networks is limited by mobility, half-duplex operation and possible collisions. One way to overcome these bottlenecks is to apply a multi-user detection so that a node can receive several packets from different users at the same time. Enhancing the receiver capacity, defined by the maximum number of received signals from different users, can significantly increase the network throughput and improve quality of service. In this paper we present an approximate analysis of the throughput per node as a function of the receiver capacity and the probability that a mobile node is in the receiving mode. Results show that the receiver capacity of two or three signals can provide sufficient throughput, if the probability that a mobile node is in the receiving mode is high. When the receiver capacity is increased to seven to ten signals, a high throughput is achieved for any practical value of the probability that a mobile node is in the receiving mode. The proposed model can be used for receiver capacity optimisation in the design of ad hoc networks based on multi-user detection.