A Simulation Study on Queueing Delay Performance of Slotted ALOHA under Time-Correlated Channels

Slotted ALOHA (S-ALOHA) is a classical medium access control protocol widely used in multiple access communication networks, supporting distributed random access without the need for a central controller. Although stability and delay have been extensively studied in existing works, most of these studies have assumed ideal channel conditions or independent fading, and the impact of time-correlated wireless channels has been less addressed. In this paper, we investigate the queueing delay performance in S-ALOHA networks under time-correlated channel conditions by utilizing a Gilbert-Elliott model. Through simulation studies, we demonstrate how temporal correlation in the wireless channel affects the queueing delay performance. We find that stronger temporal correlation leads to increased variability in queue length, a larger probability of having queue overflows, and higher congestion levels in the S-ALOHA network. Consequently, there is an increase in the average queueing delay, even under a light traffic load. With these findings, we provide valuable insights into the queueing delay performance of S-ALOHA networks, supplementing the existing understanding of delay in S-ALOHA networks.