Variable weight sequences for adaptive scheduled access in MANETs

Scheduling access to a shared channel in mobile ad hoc networks must address numerous competing requirements, for example on throughput, delay, and fairness. It must address disparate and dynamic traffic demands as well as losses due to collisions with neighbouring transmitters. It must address changes in the topology of the network that arise from mobility. Topology transparent scheduling schemes have been proposed as a means to support reasonable delay guarantees, minimum throughput guarantees, and to a lesser extent fairness concerns. Sequences based on codes and combinatorial designs have been explored that support topology transparent scheduling for mobile ad hoc networks. However, all of the schemes proposed provide every node with the same (or essentially the same) channel access, by assigning each node a transmission frame in which the number of transmission slots ('weight') is the same. In order to mitigate effects of losses due to collision, it is important to limit the set of frame schedules that are permitted; but at the same time, using frames with differing weights can improve throughput without sacrificing fairness. Combinatorial requirements for variable weight frame schedules are determined based on these observations.