Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Decentralized networks can learn collision-free periodic transmission schedules, but acquisition can consume much of a finite operating horizon. We characterize acquisition in a reservation protocol for a fixed population of $n$ nodes and a period of $Γ_n\ge n$ slots. Initially, each node attempts independently in each slot with probability proportional to $1/n$. A success reserves a slot that the node reuses every $Γ_n$ slots, retaining it after collisions. Nodes use only their own acknowledgments and small local memory. An exact finite-population Markov reduction, independent of the arrangement of reserved slots, characterizes the time until every node has a distinct reservation. As $n\to\infty$, mean acquisition takes $O(n^2)$ slots when $Γ_n=n$ and $O(n\log n)$ slots when $Γ_n\sim(1+θ)n$, for fixed $θ>0$. With a fixed number $Γ_n-n$ of spare slots, the standard deviation of acquisition time has the same asymptotic order as its mean. If that number diverges while $Γ_n/n$ remains bounded, the ratio of standard deviation to mean tends to zero. A diverging sublinear number of spare slots yields $o(n^2)$ mean acquisition while long-run utilization, the fraction $n/Γ_n$ of slots with successful transmissions, tends to one. Simulations validate these laws and compare acquisition and delivered packets per slot with existing access protocols.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Dester, Plínio Santini
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212325937