ABSTRACT
Recent advancements in wireless technologies and mankind’s long-time dream of free communication are the driving forces behind the proliferation of wireless local area networks (WLANs) and the “hot” research activities in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). One of the most active topics is medium access control (MAC) protocols, which coordinate the efficient use of the limited shared wireless resource. However, in these wireless networks, the limited wireless spectrum, time-varying propagation characteristics, distributed multiple access control, low complexity, and energy constraints together impose significant challenges for MAC protocol design to provide reliable wireless communications with high data rates.
