The Intellectual Merit of the proposed research project lies in the development of interactive PHY-MAC design techniques for capacity enhanced wireless networks and in the development of analytical and evaluation tools that are broadly applicable to related communication problems. First, we explore new design philosophy for random access protocols. Taking a mutually interactive MAC-PHY (physical layer) perspective, we introduce a new dimension of freedom into the design space. In addition, the proposed MAC design, in combination with collision-free multiple access techniques, lays a solid foundation for high capacity access control in heavily loaded wireless networks. The Broader Impacts resulting from the proposed research project are multifold. On the technical side, the proposed capacity reaching random access protocols lay a solid foundation for efficient access control in both single band and multi-band wireless networks. The greatly improved random access mechanisms will help secure an ideal human-technology platform for fast and reliable information exchange. Furthermore, future wireless standards can benefit from the advanced design methodology and analysis/evaluation tools on random access to be developed in this research. On the education side, one major impact of this research project is the education and training of students through direct student participation in the research activities. Additionally, by integrating the technological advances into the undergraduate/graduate curricula, and through outreach activities, significant impacts are expected from this project on training a highly-skilled and diverse workforce in the areas of wireless communications and networking.
