On the delay in a multiple-access system with large propagation delay

Transmission algorithms are introduced for use in a single-hop packet switching system with nonuniform traffic and with propagation delay that is large relative to the packet length. The traffic model allows arbitrary traffic streams subject only to a constraint on the number of data packets which can arrive at any individual source in the system or for any individual destination in the system over time periods of specified length. The algorithms are based primarily on sending transmission schedules to the receivers immediately before transmitting each data packet multiple times so that the receiver can maximize the number of packets it captures. An algorithm based on matchings in a random graph is shown to provide mean total delay divided by propagation delay arbitrarily close to one, as the propagation delay tends to infinity. >