The countdown of the backoff time counter is resumed or reactivated when the radio medium is sensed idle anew, after a DIFS time period. This is the case for the other nodes at T2, 25 as soon as the transmission opportunity TXOP granted to source node 20 ends and the DIFS period 28 elapses. DIFS 28 (DCF inter-frame space) thus defines the minimum waiting time for a source node before trying to transmit some data. In practice, DIFS=SIFS+2*aSlotTime.
When the backoff time counter reaches zero (26) at T1, the timer expires, the corresponding node 20 requests access onto the medium in order to be granted a TXOP, and the backoff time counter is reinitialized 29 using a new random backoff value.
In the example of the Figure implementing the RTS/CTS scheme, at T1, the source node 20 that wants to transmit data frames 230 sends a special short frame or message acting as a medium access request to reserve the radio medium, instead of the data frames themselves, just after the channel has been sensed idle for a DIFS or after the backoff period as explained above.
The medium access request is known as a Request-To-Send (RTS) message or frame. The RTS frame generally includes the addresses of the source and receiving nodes (“destination 21”) and the duration for which the radio medium is to be reserved for transmitting the control frames (RTS/CTS) and the data frames 230.