Bridging functionality for medium access control sublayer-applied to distributed foundation wireless medium access control

Tomoki Ohsawa, Gerald Q. Maguire Jr.

Abstract: This paper proposes a new medium access control (MAC) procedure which adds bridging functionality to a multiple access control protocol. This bridging functionality can automatically forward a packet which is sent from a station to others in its local coverage area (i.e., cell). It realizes optimal path selection, from the MAC sublayer point of view. In addition, it provides a broadcast environment to all stations in the coverage area. By utilizing this functionality, throughput and transmission quality can be improved. The concept is simple and easily realized within the distributed foundation wireless medium access control (DFWMAC) proposed to IEEE802.11 standard committee for both infrastructure and ad-hoc networks. It can also effectively deal with the hidden station problem, reduce channel interference and provide throughput improvement. The advantages of this bridging functionality and its operation for both infrastructure networks and ad-hoc networks are discussed.