Multiple-access protocols and time-constrained communication

During the past ten years, the field of multiple-access communication has developed into a major area of both practical and theoretical interest within the field of computer communications. The multiple-access problem arises from the necessity of sharing a single communication channel among a community of distributed users. The distributed algorithm used by the stations to share the channel is known as the multiple-access protocol. In this paper we examine the multiple-access problem and various approaches to its resolution. In this survey we first define the multiple-access problem and then present the underlying issues and difficulties in achieving multiple-access communication. A taxonomy for multiple-access protocols is then developed in order to characterize common approaches and to provide a framework within which these protocols can be compared and contrasted. Different proposed protocols are then described and discussed, and aspects of their performance are examined. The use of multiple-access protocols for "real- time" or "time-constrained" communication applications, such as voice transmission, is examined next. Issues in time-constrained communication are identified, and recent work in the design of time-constrained multiple-access protocols is surveyed.