New multi-access protocol for satellite channels

We propose here a new random access protocol which is a variation of the ARRA (Announced Retransmission Random Access) scheme for satellite channels. Addition of a small amount of control information in the data frames results in significantly increased capacities. Stations announce their retransmission intent by transmitting control information in a minislot. Conflicts between new transmissions and retransmissions and also those between retransmissions themselves can be completely avoided. With a small control channel overhead, dramatic improvements in capacity and delay over ARRA can be achieved without compromising the simplicity and operational convenience of random access protocols.