Efficient polling scheme for multiple direct link communication between stations in infrastructure mode IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs

In this paper, a modified PCF (Point Coordination Function) MAC (Medium Access Control) protocol is proposed to support the multiple direct link communication between STAs (STAtions) in infrastructure mode IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs. By the proposed MAC protocol, the direct link communication between STAs, which are located within the communication range of each other, is allowed without the use of AP (Access Point) as a relay. Moreover, when multiple direct data communication between STAs can be simultaneously performed with a sufficiently small interference, multiple simultaneous direct link communication is allowed for the efficient use of radio bandwidth. AP polls STAs to grant the transmission opportunities using the direct link communication by transmitting the polling frames to STAs. An efficient polling method for granting the transmission opportunities to STAs is proposed to reduce the number of the polling frame transmissions and enhance the PCF MAC performance.