Improving IEEE 802.11 RTS/CTS Handshake in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks Considering Large Interference Range

Abstract

When the IEEE 802.11 MAC is used in wireless ad hoc networks, it will suffer from more serious hidden terminal and exposed terminal problems than those in single-hop case. More specifically, it is resulted from the "large" interference range and the "large" carrier sensing range. In this paper, we propose two simple modifications of IEEE 802.11 to dynamically adjust the transmission rights and reception wills in accordance with the shared medium status near transmitter and receiver, respectively. Simulation results show that our method can lessen interferences and increase system throughput as compared with IEEE 802.11 MAC in the multihop wireless ad hoc networks.