Title: Performance analysis of contention access period of IEEE 802.15.3 MAC protocol

Authors: Sana Ullah; Min Chen; Waleed Alsalih

Addresses: College of Computer and Information Sciences, Department of Information System, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ' School of Computer Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China ' College of Computer and Information Sciences, Department of Computer Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: IEEE 802.15.3 is expected to play a significant role in the Internet of Things (IoT). It is developed for high-rate communication between low-power devices in a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). The standard defines Medium Access Control (MAC) and physical layer protocols that support real-time communication over an area of ten square metres. IEEE 802.15.3 MAC consists of a combination of Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) protocols. The channel is divided into superframe structures where each superframe consists of a beacon, a Contention Access Period (CAP) and a Channel Time Allocation Period (CTAP). In this paper we analyse the performance of the CAP period using both analytical and simulation-based methods. We simulate CSMA/CA protocol in the CAP period using NS-2. The simulation results are compared with those obtained from analytical approximations in terms of different parameters including throughput and optimal CAP periods.

Keywords: IEEE 802.15.3; CSMA/CA protocol; TDMA protocol; CAP; performance evaluation; simulation; contention access period; MAC protocol; medium access control; Internet of Things; IoT; wireless PANs; personal area networks; WPANs; wireless networks; channel time allocation period; CTAP.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAHUC.2013.055466

International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, 2013 Vol.13 No.3/4, pp.158 - 166

Received: 11 May 2012
Accepted: 23 Dec 2012
Published online: 29 Jul 2013 *

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