ACCESS PROTOCOL AND METHOD IN AN AD HOC NETWORK

A method for accessing a radio channel in a communication system that includes a plurality of terminals communicating with one another by radio links, a terminal being equipped with transmission and/or reception device, a processor suitable for executing the steps of the method, wherein it uses an access protocol based on a communication frame made up of a plurality of slots S(1), . . . , S(S+2).The first S slots each comprising two mini-slots. The first mini-slot including a request to send data signalling message RTS or data, the second mini-slot comprising a "ready to receive" signalling message, CTS, or data, the slot (S+1) containing a message of RTS type or data, the slot (S+2) containing a message of CTS type and an acknowledgement message placed at the end of the frame in order to acknowledge one or more transmissions taking place on the radio channel.