Movable-Boundary Channel-Access Schemes for Integrated Voice/Data Networks

摘要

Channel-access protocols for integrated radio networks must reflect the differentcommunication requirements associated with voice and data, as well as the impact each type of traffic has on the other. In this report we introduce a new class of protocols that we have developed for this application, which are known as the Voice/Data Interleaved-Frame Fixed-Length (VD-IFFL) protocols. As a first step in the discussion of the VD-IFFL protocols, we introduce the IFFL protocols, which are similar to the Interleaved-Frame-Flush-Out (IFFO) protocols (a class of schemes developed for data-only applications) except that they have a fixed frame length, a desirable feature in voice communication. The VD-IFFL protocols use a movable-boundary mechanism to share the channel between voice and data traffic. Voice traffic is handled on a reservation basis, while data traffic is handled using a hybrid IFFL scheme that combines reservation and contention. These protocols are characterized by infinite Markov chains, whose transition probabilities have been evaluated exactly. (RH)