In this paper we characterize the channel access delay and the end-to-end delay experienced by a message in a wireless ad-hoc network. We show that the delay ex- perienced is a function of four network parameters: 1) channel access probability, 2) transmission power or radius, 3) network load and 4) density of nodes. We character- ize the effect of each of these parameters on the delay and show that there exists an optimal transmission radius and channel access probability for given load and node density that delivers the best delay performance for the network.
The authors characterize the end‑to‑end and channel‑access delay in static wireless ad‑hoc networks and show that delay depends on four key parameters: channel access probability, transmission power (radius), network load, and node density. By modeling the network as a Poisson‑distributed set of nodes and using a simplified CSMA/CA access scheme, they derive analytical expressions for expected channel‑access and end‑to‑end delay.
The analysis reveals a trade‑off: increasing transmission power reduces hop count but raises neighbor count and contention, while higher channel‑access probability increases collisions. The paper defines network stability conditions and provides lemmas and theorems that quantify delay under various parameter settings, supporting the design of delay‑aware ad‑hoc and sensor networks.
The three sources are the multi‑hop nature of the network, channel access delay, and aggregation and queuing delays at intermediate nodes.
A network is stable if the average data generation rate at each node is smaller than the node's probability of successful transmission.
The parameter p denotes the channel access probability, i.e., the probability that a node attempts to transmit in a given slot.