Coexistence of a Novel Medium Access Control Protocol for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks and the IEEE 802.11

We describe in this paper a methodology to facilitate the coexistence of the Distributed Queuing Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for Ad hoc Networks (DQMAN) with the IEEE 802.11 Standard MAC protocol. By using dual terminals which can operate with the two MAC protocols, it is possible to run a hybrid network with legacy and novel terminals. In addition, it is possible to enable the intercommunication between all the terminals of the network. Computer simulations have been carried out to assess the performance and the feasibility of such dual operation. The main conclusion of the study is that the use of dual terminals allows the integration of DQMAN within legacy networks without degrading the performance of IEEE 802.11 terminals. In addition, the mechanism presented in this paper can be used to enable the coexistence of any cluster-based distributed MAC protocol within IEEE 802.11 networks.