Cooperative Cross Layer MAC Protocols for Directional Antenna Ad Hoc Networks

This paper deals with some of the main problems that affect directional antenna ad hoc networks, especially deafness and collisions. By means of a thorough study of the possibilities offered by an antenna array, we propose cooperation as a novel technique for deafness suppression, together with a low complexity multiuser detector and a collision avoidance algorithm tailored for this type of networks. Building on these ideas, a new family of protocols (called Cooperative MAC) is designed. A lower and an upper bound on its performance are compared with the Circular RTS/CTS protocol (CRCM), a known benchmark in this field. We are able to achieve interesting improvements.