shows the basic operation and data exchange of T-MAC. To reduce potential
collisions, each node waits for a random period of time within a fixed contention interval
before the medium is accessed. For example, in Figure 6.11(a), nodes A and C are trying
to send data to node B, but node A wins the medium and transmits its data to node B. The
minimum time a node remains active to listen for activity is expressed as TA and it must be
long enough to hear a potential CTS from one of its neighbors. Once a node hears a CTS, it
knows that another node won the medium. This node then stays awake until the end of the
transmission, which can be observed by overhearing the acknowledgment (ACK) sent by
node B. This event initiates the beginning of the next contention interval and node C will
have an opportunity to transmit its data if it wins the medium