Performance analysis of distributed cluster-based MAC protocol for multiuser MIMO wireless networks

It is known that multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication can enhance the performance of wireless networks. It can substantially increase the spectral efficiency of wireless networks by utilising multiuser interference rather than avoiding it. This paradigm shift has most impact on the medium access control (MAC) protocol because most existing MAC protocols are designed to reduce the interference. In this article, we propose a novel cluster-based carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CB-CSMA/CA) scheme. The proposed scheme enables multiuser MIMO transmissions in wireless local area networks (WLANs) by utilising the multiuser interference cancellation capability of the physical layer. In this article we focus on the performance analysis of CB-CSMA/CA. We investigate saturation throughput applying optimum backoff parameters and in the presence of synchronisation errors. Furthermore, we study the impact of different clustering methods on non-saturation throughput. We show that CB-CSMA/CA improves throughput significantly compared to the CSMA/CA scheme used in the IEEE 802.11 system. It is a promising approach for a variety of network configurations including typical infrastructure WLANs as well as many other wireless cooperative networks.