A new contention resolution procedure for HFC access networks and its performance evaluation

Bidirectional cable TV networks using hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) systems are good examples of broadcast environments where a contention resolution algorithm is needed in order to allocate the multiaccess medium among various customers. The medium access control (MAC) scheme, proposed by DAVIC/DVB, IEEE 802.14 and DOCSIS for the upstream channel of HFC access networks is based on a mixable contention-based/contentionless time slot assignment. Contention-less (CL) slots are assigned by the head-end (HE) to end stations according to a reservation scheme. Contention-based slots (CB) are randomly accessed by active terminals without any preliminary allocation and so collisions may occur. To resolve contention the contention tree algorithm has been widely accepted by the DVB/DAVIC, IEEE 802.14 and DOCSIS standards for MAC because of higher throughput and lower access delay. In this paper we propose a simple modification to the existing protocol and analyze its performance. We propose to have one slot in the frame exclusively reserved for the new arrivals that wish to access the channel capacity using contention resolution and at least one more slot reserved for resolving their contention if there was a contention in the arrival slot. This assumption simplifies the protocol to a queuing mechanism and we use the results of the queue to analyze the protocol. The queuing analysis method is used to determine the throughput of the channel and waiting times of the arbitrary customers. Furthermore, we present numerical results and compare that with simulations.