Delay-throughput analysis of multi-channel MAC protocols in ad hoc networks

Since delay and throughput are important Quality of Service parameters in many wireless applications, we study the performance of different multi-channel Media Access Control (MAC) protocols in ad hoc networks by considering these measures in this paper. For this, we derive average access delays and throughputs in closed-form for different multi-channel MAC approaches in case of Poisson arrivals. Correctness of theoretical results is verified by simulations. Performance of the protocols is analyzed with respect to various critical operation parameters such as number of available channels, packet size and arrival rate. Presented results can be used to evaluate the performance of multi-channel MAC approaches in various scenarios and to study the impact of multi-channel communications on different wireless applications. More importantly, the derived theoretical results can be exploited in network design to ensure system stability.