A novel MAC layer protocol for space division multiple access in wireless ad hoc networks

Recently, MAC protocols using directional antennas for wireless ad hoc networks that are based on and similar to IEEE 802.11 type WLAN have been proposed. These protocols, however, are unable to attain substantial performance improvements because they do not enable the nodes to perform multiple simultaneous transmissions/receptions. In this paper, we propose a MAC layer protocol that exploits space division multiple access, thus using the property of directional reception to receive more than one packet from spatially separated transmitter nodes (equipped with smart antenna systems). Our simulation results show that drastic throughput improvements may be achieved through this scheme.