On random message arrivals in multiaccess communications

We consider the information-theoretic model for the slotted synchronous M-user collision channel. We examine a combination of information-theoretic analysis of the collision channel with random message arrivals, and the effect of bounded message decoding delay. We study the tradeoff between the size of the message and the necessary protocol information as a function of the allowed delay, the size of the channel packets, and the fraction of time for which the transmitter actually transmits packets on the channel. We also explore the relationships between the stability region of the dynamical system, the information-theoretic analysis, the effect of delay, and the role of addressing.