Design and analysis of medium access protocols for multi-hop wireless networks

Large-scale wireless networks, such as large-scale mobile ad hoc networks and large-scale sensor networks, are important for applications or situations where access to wire-line networks is limited or absent. Multi-hop transmissions are essential for large-scale wireless networks to achieve the best possible capacity scaling laws. The design and analysis of medium access control (MAC) protocols for large-scale multi-hop wireless networks is an important research topic that has recently attracted a great amount of attention from researchers. In this thesis, the focus is on the design and analysis of two classes of novel MAC schemes. The first is called synchronized array method (SAM), and the second is a distributed cooperative link-scheduling (DCLS) scheme.; The SAM scheme partitions the network into multiple interleaved subnets. Each subnet is assigned with a distinct time-frequency slot, where packet transmissions are conducted concurrently. The SAM scheme achieves the optimal capacity scaling law by Gupta and Kumar. In this thesis, we evaluate the performance of the SAM scheme in terms of averaged per link capacity or bits-hops per second per Hertz per node. The impact of the subnet parameters are investigated. Both fading and non-fading channels are considered. The three regular network topologies: square, triangle and hexagon, are given particular attention. The throughput of the SAM scheme is also compared with that of a random access scheme known as ALOHA.; The DCLS scheme is a distributed and yet cooperative scheme that allows each active link to autonomously choose a distinct time/frequency slot. The DCLS scheme is developed from a notion called space-time power scheduling. Without a central scheduler, the DCLS scheme performs channel calibration and power scheduling iteratively at each link. Computer experiments show that the DCLS scheme consistently converges to a desired link schedule. Combined with a distributed and cooperative power control (DCPC) scheme, the DCLS scheme yields significant power saving while satisfying given quality-of-service (QoS) requirements.