Performance of Multi-Channel MAC Incorporating Opportunistic Cooperative Diversity

This paper proposes a medium access control (MAC) protocol, termed as CD-MMAC, for wireless networks that utilizes multiple channels and incorporates opportunistic cooperative diversity dynamically to improve its performance. The IEEE 802.11b standard protocol allows the use of multiple channels available at the physical layer but its MAC protocol is designed only for a single channel. The proposed protocol utilizes multiple channels by using single interface and incorporates opportunistic cooperative diversity by using a cross-layer MAC. The new protocol leverages the multi-rate capability of IEEE 802.11b and allows wireless nodes far away from destination node to transmit at a higher rate by using intermediate nodes as a relays. The protocol incorporates opportunistic cooperative diversity by the design of a cross-layer MAC. The protocol improves network throughput and packet delivery ratio significantly and reduces packet delay. The performance improvement is further evaluated by simulation and analysis.