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Abstract In this paper, we evaluate the performance of an enhanced cooperative MAC with busy tone (eBT-COMAC) protocol in mobile ad hoc networks via a combination of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Our previously proposed BT-COMAC protocol was enhanced by (1) redesigning the minislots used in the helper node selection procedure; (2) specifying complete frame formats for newly defined and modified control frames; and (3) using a new metric (the received SNR rather than the received power) in the helper node competition. In this eBT-COMAC protocol, cooperation probability is calculated based on a geometric analysis, and a Markov chain-based model is used to derive steady-state probabilities for backoff-related parameters. These results are used to analytically characterize two performance measures: system throughput and channel access delay. Numerical simulation of a mobile wireless network where all communication nodes are assumed to be uniformly distributed in space and move independently based on a random waypoint model is used to validate the analytical results and demonstrate the performance gains achieved by the proposed eBT-COMAC protocol.