An efficient cluster-based CDMA/TDMA scheme for wireless mobile ad-hoc networks: A learning automata approach

In this paper, we design a dynamic frame length CDMA/TDMA scheme for clustered wireless ad hoc networks with unknown traffic parameters. In this scheme, the collision-free intra-cluster communications are organized by the cluster-heads using a TDMA scheme, and a CDMA scheme is overlaid on the TDMA to organize the interference-free inter-cluster communications. Therefore, to design such a scheme, we encounter three important problems, namely cluster formation, code assignment, and slot assignment. In this paper, we propose three algorithms to solve the addressed problems based on learning automata. In our scheme, by the proposed clustering algorithm, the wireless hosts are grouped into non-overlapping clusters. Then, by the proposed code assignment algorithm (considering the concept of code spatial reuse), an interference-free code is assigned to each cluster. Finally, by the slot assignment algorithm, each cluster member is assigned a fraction of TDMA frame proportional to its traffic load. The simulation results show that the proposed CDMA/TDMA scheme outperforms the existing methods in terms of almost all metrics of interest, specifically, under bursty traffic conditions.