Enhanced MAC Protocol and Scheduling Algorithm for High Rate WPANs

Abstract

The demands for higher data rate in Wireless personal area network (WPAN) than one in Bluetooth has been completed with IEEE 802.15.3 standard. The standard, named High-rate WPAN (HR-WPAN), adopts TDMA-based Medium access control (MAC) protocol. In this paper, we propose novel MAC protocol and scheduling algorithm to achieve efficient time-slots allocation. Time slots for data transmissions are allocated by two steps. In the first step, the time slots are initially allocated using a proposed allocation algorithm based on statistical packet inter-arrival time. Then, the initial allocation is dynamically adjusted by utilizing feedback information coming from each device. Performance evaluations are carried out through extensive simulations and significant performance enhancements are observed.