Contention protocols for wireless medium access in communication networks

A method of controlling wireless medium access in a communication network having a number of terminals, comprising:

• defining one or more protocol message units for transmission by a given terminal which units correspond to an operational state of at least one of the terminal or the medium;
• defining a minimum packet size that is at least the size of a smallest one of the protocol message units;
• allocating a number of time slots for transmission of packets from the terminals, including defining each time slot to be of sufficient duration to contain the defined minimum packet size;
• allocating within each time slot certain time periods corresponding to a number of contention opportunities;
• and
• applying, at a given terminal and during the contention opportunities of each of the time slots, certain priority and backoff mechanisms so that packets are transmitted by the terminal within the time slots while (1) minimizing the occurrence of empty time slots during periods when packets are available at the terminal for transmission, and (2) minimizing the number of time slots during which two or more transmitted packets are detected simultaneously at the given terminal.