Multiple Access Communication: The Finite User Population Problem
Abstract
The multiple access problem is one of organizing a population of users so that they may efficiently share the resources of a single communication channel. This problem is examined under the modeling assumptions of a finite user population and a time-slotted channel with limited feedback. Techniques or schemes for coordinating the transmissions of users are called multiaccess protocols. Simple relationships among common steady-state measures of protocol performance (including throughput and average delay) are derived. From these relationships it is shown that the performance measures are equivalent in the sense that (1) each may be expressed as a simple function of any one of the others and (2) a protocol which is optimal with respect to any one measure is optimal with respect to the others. The derived relationships are also used in the performance analysis of perfect scheduling and TDMA. In the area of protocol development, four related classes of multiaccess protocols are defined and examined. The most general class of protocols is considered first, and the other three are subclasses of it. For each class the problem of finding an optimal protocol is characterized. The optimization problem is formulated as a Team problem for the first class, and as a Markov decision problem for each of the other three classes. However, only with the last class examined, the Window protocols, does the optimization problem prove to be tractable. Using results from Markov decision theory, optimal Window protocols are derived for the cases of two and three users.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA108337
Entities
People
- Michael G. Hluchyj
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology