CA2219046A1 - Extensions to distributed mac protocols with collision avoidance using rts/cts exchanges - Google Patents

Abstract

In a communication network having a plurality of stations and a shared commoncommunications medium using a collision avoidance media access protocol for communication between the stations; in which medium access is granted to a pair of stations obtaining a successful reservation of the medium; the pair of stations comprising a requester station and a target station, wherein multiple stations may request access to the medium to send data, a method of establishing a reservation between stationscomprising: the requesting stations sending Request-to-Send (RTS) control frames and the receiving stations responding as appropriate with Clear-to-Send (CTS) control frames;
wherein a requesting node aborts the reservation if the medium becomes active between its RTS transmission and the corresponding CTS response of its target station; performing arbitration by stations receiving the RTS transmission as follows: if a receiving station receives multiple Request-to-Send (RTS) control frames directed to the receiving station during a contention period, the receiving station responds to the last RTS control frame received by transmitting Clear-to-Send (CTS) control frames; if the receiving station receives multiple RTS control frames directed to different receiving stations during a contention period, the receiving station will respect the first RTS control frame received.