Automated MAC protocol generation under dynamic traffic conditions

We formulate the automated MAC protocol generation problem under dynamic traffic conditions for multiple neighborhoods and in the presence of acknowledgments. We show that the problem can be formulated as a functional optimization program in which each design (a.k.a. decision) function of the program is the probability that a node takes an action given its knowledge state, as a function of the effective traffic demand at the current time at that node. In order to achieve a viable computational complexity for the functional optimization program, we discretize the effective traffic demands by virtue of which a look-up table is produced for each design function. Structurally different MAC protocols are subsumed in this framework, and are generated automatically with respect to traffic demand. The symbolic Monte Carlo method is used to generate an approximate expression for the objective function as well as for the non-linear constraints, in a manner that trades off accuracy versus computational complexity. Symbolic simulation results are presented for a fixed network topology under the assumption of Poisson traffic. The objective is to minimize the average power consumption of a node subject to a minimum average throughput constraint that incorporates soft delay guarantees. The results demonstrate that a MAC protocol that incorporates acknowledgments in a multi-hop setting under dynamic traffic can be generated automatically.