协作通信利用空闲节点的天线,构成虚拟的MIMO(multiple-input multiple-output)系统,从而对抗无线信道衰落,获取分集增益.协作通信是下一代无线移动网络的关键技术,也是近几年的一个研究热点.目前,已有的研究成果大多集中在如何根据信道状态选取合适的协作节点,以增加信道容量、减低能量消耗及减小中断概率等方面.但由于协作通信改变了以往的传统通信模式,因此需要设计新的MAC(medium access control)机制(协作MAC机制),以适应协作通信的特点.针对协作MAC机制进行综述,重点讨论了协作通信中MAC机制面临的问题,并对现有的协作MAC机制进行分析和比较,最后给出协作MAC的进一步的研究方向.
Cooperation Communication (CC) utilizes the antennas of idle nodes to create a virtual MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) system. The CC can combat the fading in wireless links and achieve spatial diversity gains, which makes it a key technology for the next-generation wireless mobile networks. Nowadays, many researches focus on increasing the channel capacity, decreasing the energy consumption and outage probability by selecting appropriate cooperative nodes. New MAC (medium access control) mechanisms (cooperative MAC), however, are needed to satisfy the cooperation communication because the communication mode is changed in cooperation communication networks. In this paper, a survey on the cooperative MAC is given. The challenging issues for cooperative MAC are discussed, and some cooperative MACs are presented and analyzed. The research direction of cooperation MACs is discussed in the conclusion.