Knightly, Edward W2017-08-032017-08-032016-052016-04-20May 2016Zhang, Junyi. "MAC Layer DATA/ACK Handshake in the Hybrid VLC-RF System." (2016) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96544">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96544</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96544The hybrid VLC-RF system utilizes a uni-directional VLC link for downlink and the legacy Wi-Fi link for uplink transmission. However, simply integrating the two links without any modi cation in the MAC layer would cause problems for the MAC layer DATA/ACK handshake. The acknowledgements for VLC packets have to be transmitted via ra- dio. Because of the Wi-Fi channel's contention based random access, the transmission will be delayed and degrades the performance of the legacy Wi-Fi, especially when the Wi-Fi channel is heavily loaded. In my the- sis, I design and analyze the Spoofed NAV Triggered Multi-client ACKs (STMA) scheme to transmit the delay-sensitive VLC ACK timely while keep the degradation of legacy Wi-Fi under-control. I implement the key components of STMA and evaluate its performance with a combination of over-the-air experiments and trace-driven simulations. The result shows that in a dense WLAN scenario, STMA reduces the response delay and legacy Wi-Fi degradation signi cantly in comparison to 802.11 contention- based approach.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Hybrid VLC-RFMAC ProtocolDATA/ACK HandshakeThesis2017-08-03