Slotted ALOHA Game for Medium Access Control in Satellite Networks

In this paper, slotted ALOHA (SA) game is proposed for medium access control in satellite networks. The SA game studies the transmission probabilities of a group of non-cooperative satellite terminals (STs) sharing a channel to transmit via the SA protocol. We consider a payoff function based on a probability of successful transmission and derive the mixed strategy Nash equilibrium (NE) with a closed form. Simulation results show that the SA game can support a large amount of STs, and it can keep at its peak throughput even at very high traffic loads and exhibits a low access delay and energy consumption.

I. Introduction

Slotted ALOHA (SA) protocol has been extensively used for random access in satellite networks due to its high stability, high energy efficiency, and simple implementation [1]–[3]. However, when the number of active STs in a network exceeds its maximum capacity, the throughput will decline sharply due to considerable packet collision. Thus so as to avoid network congestion and keep high network throughput, the number of STs accessing to the network should be effectively controlled.