Majority Voting-Based MAC Protocol for Exploiting Link-Layer Diversity in Wireless Networks

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Wireless Communication

Background:

• High-density wireless local area networks (WLANs) face significant data transmission reliability issues due to increased interference from numerous nodes sharing limited radio frequency resources.
• Conventional medium access control (MAC) protocols often discard erroneous or non-associated uplink data frames at access points (APs), hindering network efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel MAC protocol designed to enhance uplink data transmission reliability in centralized WLAN systems.
• To improve overall network throughput in high-density WLAN environments through adaptive mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Development of a MAC protocol incorporating redundant wireless links between neighboring APs and non-associated stations.
• Implementation of a centralized control node employing a majority voting algorithm for link-layer diversity and error correction of uplink data frames.
• Introduction of an adaptive carrier sensing ranging mechanism to optimize uplink network throughput.

Main Results:

• The proposed MAC protocol demonstrates increased reliability in data transmission by effectively correcting erroneous uplink frames through multi-AP data aggregation.
• The adaptive carrier sensing mechanism contributes to improved uplink network throughput in the simulated and experimental WLAN scenarios.
• Evaluation through simulation studies and software-defined radio (SDR)-based experiments validates the protocol's performance across various WLAN conditions.

Conclusions:

• The novel MAC protocol significantly enhances data transmission reliability and network throughput in high-density WLANs.
• Link-layer diversity via majority voting and adaptive carrier sensing are effective strategies for overcoming interference and improving performance in dense wireless environments.
• The findings provide a foundation for more robust and efficient future WLAN designs.