Frequency-hopped network diversity multiple access for semi-ad-hoc wireless networks

We consider a wireless data network setup that provides scalability and robustness to node failures, while achieving high throughput and low mean delay. A semi-ad-hoc Frequency-Hopped (FH) Network Diversity Multiple Access (NDMA) scheme is proposed. In this scheme, nodes are dynamically organized into clusters, where each cluster operates under NDMA random access protocol with FH on a per packet slot basis using a cell-specific FH pattern. In a moderately loaded system, collisions between packets from different clusters are not negligible. In order to guard against such collisions, we propose NDMA with a fixed re-transmission margin of M slots. For this system, we derive a sufficient condition for stability using a deterministic fluid arrivals model. We also analyze steady-state, and obtain useful formulas for approximating mean packet delay.