A hybrid distributed slot assignment TDMA channel access protocol

A distributed hybrid channel access protocol for a network of partially connected tactical users is presented. The protocol defines a random access time slotted nonpersistent carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA) protocol for rapid network access for low-volume bursty traffic and a reservation time-division multiple processor (TDMA) protocol for efficient forwarding of high-volume periodic traffic. The TDMA protocol organizes the network users into communications groups (CGs) of fully connected nodes and allocates slots to be shared by CG members using a variation of the mini-slotted alternating priorities (MSAP) protocol to provide hidden terminal collision-free communication between the members of a CG. A node may be a member of several overlapping CGs to support efficient relaying of traffic. Both protocols use a mechanism for higher priority traffic to capture a channel slot by preempting the transmission of lower priority traffic