An efficient opportunistic cooperative diversity protocol for IEEE 802.11 networks

Opportunistic cooperation promises to enhance the user experience when streaming media over wireless devices by improving wireless network reliability at the link level. This paper presents DAFMAC, an efficient cooperative diversity partner selection algorithm for IEEE 802.11 devices. Simulation results show DAFMAC provides a significantly higher transmission reliability in poor channel conditions than traditional ARQ techniques without modifying the device hardware. Further analysis shows the low overhead of DAFMAC makes it highly competitive with other proposed cooperative retransmission mechanisms in an ad-hoc network.