Process / pipelineMedium Access Control
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA)
CSMA/CA is a random access protocol for wireless medium access control, designed to enable multiple devices to share a wireless channel while minimizing collisions. Introduced by Phil Karn in 1990, it is the foundation of WiFi (IEEE 802.11) and is now the de facto standard for unlicensed spectrum access. CSMA/CA combines carrier sensing (listen before transmit) with collision avoidance (RTS/CTS handshake) to improve channel efficiency and fairness, avoiding the efficiency loss of pure random access (Aloha).
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Sources
- Karn, P. (1990). MACA—a new channel access method for packet radio. In Proceedings of the ARRL/CRRL Amateur Radio 9th Computer Networking Conference, 134-140. link ↗
- IEEE 802.11 Working Group. (2020). IEEE Standard for Information Technology—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications. IEEE. link ↗