A directional MAC protocol with the DATA-frame fragmentation and short busy advertisement signal for mitigating the directional hidden node problem

This paper proposes a MAC protocol for ad hoc networks with directional antennas for mitigating the directional hidden-node problem. In the proposed protocol, it is possible to tell the communication situation to the directional hidden node by using DATA-frame fragmentations and short busy advertisement signals. As a result, the frame collisions induced by the directional hidden nodes can be reduced and the network throughput is enhanced compared with the conventional protocol. Simulation results show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed protocol.