MAC Performance of Conventional and Multihop Cellular Networks
Recently, there has been increasing interest in adding relaying functionalities into cellular networks. When relaying is added to Conventional Cellular Networks (CCNs), the resulting system is known as Multihop Cellular Network (MCN). MCNs combine the benefits of ad hoc networks and conventional cellular networks. For maximizing the benefit of multihop relaying, a good Medium Access Control (MAC) layer protocol is required. A Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol moderates access to the shared medium by defining rules that allow devices to communicate with each other in an orderly and efficient manner. Different Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols have been devised for different type of architectures, applications and media, but MAC Protocols for conventional cellular networks and ad hoc networks cannot be used directly for MCNs.