Medium Access Control: Stochastic Methods - ALOHA

Stochastic or Optimistic MAC algorithms assume that collisions are part of the normal operation of a Local Area Network. They aim to minimize the number of collisions, but they don’t try to avoid all collisions.

Stochastic algorithms are usually easier to implement than deterministic ones.

Additive Links On-line Hawaii Area (ALOHA)

In the 1960s, computer networks consisted of mainframes with a few dozen terminals attached to them using the telephone network or physical cables. The University of Hawaii chose a different organization though. Instead of using telephone lines to connect the terminals to the mainframes, they developed the first packet radio ...