The implementation of LIFS in a single channel MAC protocol

Abstract

The combination of RTS/CTS and EIFS enhancements has not adequately addressed the hidden terminal problem (HTP) in the receiver neighbourhood. The EIFS scheme protects ACK packets, while DATA packets are not shielded as the EIFS expires before they are delivered. Our proposed scheme is designed to address the shortcomings of the EIFS in protecting data packets. We propose a scheme which implements a Long Inter-Frame Space (LIFS) which protects DATA packets and calms HTPs within the receiver's carrier sensing range. The performance of the scheme was evaluated through NS 2 simulations. The simulation results show an improvement in network performance. The scheme reduces end to end delay in all the tagged flows.