A new channel access scheme for multi-user voice communications in IEEE 802.15.4 networks

Abstract

The IEEE 802.15.4 standard is a low-cost, low data-rate, and low-power communication protocol in wireless personal area networks. In this paper, we propose a new channel access scheme for multi-user voice communication to improve the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Although the previous standard protocol supports GTS (Guaranteed Time Slot) mode for periodic data transmission, it is not appropriate for multi-user voice communication. The proposed scheme facilitates a multi-user voice communication with improvement of channel utilization rate and decrease of channel access delay. The performance evaluation shows that the proposed scheme is more efficient when compared with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard in terms of data transmission ratio and channel utilization rate.