Unsaturated Throughput Analysis of IEEE 802.11 in Presence of Non Ideal Transmission Channel and Capture Effects

In this paper, we provide a throughput analysis of the IEEE 802.11 protocol at the data link layer in non-saturated traffic conditions taking into account the impact of both transmission channel and capture effects in Rayleigh fading environment. The impact of both non-ideal channel and capture become important in terms of the actual observed throughput in typical network conditions whereby traffic is mainly unsaturated, especially in an environment of high interference. We extend the multi-dimensional Markovian state transition model characterizing the behavior at the MAC layer by including transmission states that account for packet transmission failures due to errors caused by propagation through the channel, along with a state characterizing the system when there are no packets to be transmitted in the buffer of a station. Finally, we derive a linear model of the throughput along with its interval of validity. Simulation results closely match the theoretical derivations confirming the effectiveness of the proposed model.Comment: To appear on IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 200

A Model of the IEEE 802.11 DCF in Presence of Non Ideal Transmission Channel and Capture Effects

In this paper, we provide a throughput analysis of the IEEE 802.11 protocol at the data link layer in non-saturated traffic conditions taking into account the impact of both transmission channel and capture effects in Rayleigh fading environment. Impacts of both non-ideal channel and capture become important in terms of the actual observed throughput in typical network conditions whereby traffic is mainly unsaturated, specially in an environment of high interference. We extend the multi-dimensional Markovian state transition model characterizing the behavior at the MAC layer by including transmission states that account for packet transmission failures due to errors caused by propagation through the channel, along with a state characterizing the system when there are no packets to be transmitted in the buffer of a station.Comment: Accepted for oral presentation to IEEE Globecom 2007, Washington D.C., November 200

A Joint Model for IEEE 802.15.4 Physical and Medium Access Control Layers

Many studies have tried to evaluate wireless networks and especially the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Hence, several papers have aimed to describe the functionalities of the physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers. They have highlighted some characteristics with experimental results and/or have attempted to reproduce them using theoretical models. In this paper, we use the first way to better understand IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Indeed, we provide a comprehensive model, able more faithfully to mimic the functionalities of this standard at the PHY and MAC layers. We propose a combination of two relevant models for the two layers. The PHY layer behavior is reproduced by a mathematical framework, which is based on radio and channel models, in order to quantify link reliability. On the other hand, the MAC layer is mimed by an enhanced Markov chain. The results show the pertinence of our approach compared to the model based on a Markov chain for IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer. This contribution allows us fully and more precisely to estimate the network performance with different network sizes, as well as different metrics such as node reliability and delay. Our contribution enables us to catch possible failures at both layers.Comment: Published in the proceeding of the 7th International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Conference (IWCMC), Istanbul, Turkey, 201

On the Behavior of the Distributed Coordination Function of IEEE 802.11 with Multirate Capability under General Transmission Conditions

The aim of this paper is threefold. First, it presents a multi-dimensional Markovian state transition model characterizing the behavior of the IEEE 802.11 protocol at the Medium Access Control layer which accounts for packet transmission failures due to channel errors modeling both saturated and non-saturated traffic conditions. Second, it provides a throughput analysis of the IEEE 802.11 protocol at the data link layer in both saturated and non-saturated traffic conditions taking into account the impact of both the physical propagation channel and multirate transmission in Rayleigh fading environment. The general traffic model assumed is M/M/1/K. Finally, it shows that the behavior of the throughput in non-saturated traffic conditions is a linear combination of two system parameters; the payload size and the packet rates, $\lambda^{(s)}$, of each contending station. The validity interval of the proposed model is also derived. Simulation results closely match the theoretical derivations, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed models.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, October 21, 200

An admission control scheme for IEEE 802.11e wireless local area networks

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84).Recent times has seen a tremendous increase in the deployment and use of 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). These networks are easy to deploy and maintain, while providing reasonably high data rates at a low cost. In the paradigm of Next-Generation-Networks (NGNs), WLANs can be seen as an important access network technology to support IP multimedia services. However a traditional WLAN does not provide Quality of Service (QoS) support since it was originally designed for best effort operation. The IEEE 802. 11e standard was introduced to overcome the lack of QoS support for the legacy IEEE 802 .11 WLANs. It enhances the Media Access Control (MAC) layer operations to incorporate service differentiation. However, there is a need to prevent overloading of wireless channels, since the QoS experienced by traffic flows is degraded with heavily loaded channels. An admission control scheme for IEEE 802.11e WLANs would be the best solution to limit the amount of multimedia traffic so that channel overloading can be prevented. Some of the work in the literature proposes admission control solutions to protect the QoS of real-time traffic for IEEE 802.11e Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA). However, these solutions often under-utilize the resources of the wireless channels. A measurement-aided model-based admission control scheme for IEEE 802.11e EDCA WLANs is proposed to provide reasonable bandwidth guarantees to all existing flows. The admission control scheme makes use of bandwidth estimations that allows the bandwidth guarantees of all the flows that are admitted into the network to be protected. The bandwidth estimations are obtained using a developed analytical model of IEEE 802.11e EDCA channels. The admission control scheme also aims to accept the maximum amount of flows that can be accommodated by the network's resources. Through simulations, the performance of the proposed admission control scheme is evaluated using NS-2. Results show that accurate bandwidth estimations can be obtained when comparing the estimated achievable bandwidth to actual simulated bandwidth. The results also validate that the bandwidth needs of all admitted traffic are always satisfied when the admission control scheme is applied. It was also found that the admission control scheme allows the maximum amount of flows to be admitted into the network, according the network's capacity

Improving Performance for CSMA/CA Based Wireless Networks

Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) based wireless networks are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. With the aim of supporting rich multimedia applications such as high-definition television (HDTV, 20Mbps) and DVD (9.8Mbps), one of the technology trends is towards increasingly higher bandwidth. Some recent IEEE 802.11n proposals seek to provide PHY rates of up to 600 Mbps. In addition to increasing bandwidth, there is also strong interest in extending the coverage of CSMA/CA based wireless networks. One solution is to relay traffic via multiple intermediate stations if the sender and the receiver are far apart. The so called “mesh” networks based on this relay-based approach, if properly designed, may feature both “high speed” and “large coverage” at the same time. This thesis focusses on MAC layer performance enhancements in CSMA/CA based networks in this context. Firstly, we observe that higher PHY rates do not necessarily translate into corresponding increases in MAC layer throughput due to the overhead of the CSMA/CA based MAC/PHY layers. To mitigate the overhead, we propose a novel MAC scheme whereby transported information is partially acknowledged and retransmitted. Theoretical analysis and extensive simulations show that the proposed MAC approach can achieve high efficiency (low MAC overhead) for a wide range of channel variations and realistic traffic types. Secondly, we investigate the close interaction between the MAC layer and the buffer above it to improve performance for real world traffic such as TCP. Surprisingly, the issue of buffer sizing in 802.11 wireless networks has received little attention in the literature yet it poses fundamentally new challenges compared to buffer sizing in wired networks. We propose a new adaptive buffer sizing approach for 802.11e WLANs that maintains a high level of link utilisation, while minimising queueing delay. Thirdly, we highlight that gross unfairness can exist between competing flows in multihop mesh networks even if we assume that orthogonal channels are used in neighbouring hops. That is, even without inter-channel interference and hidden terminals, multi-hop mesh networks which aim to offer a both “high speed” and “large coverage” are not achieved. We propose the use of 802.11e’s TXOP mechanism to restore/enfore fairness. The proposed approach is implementable using off-the-shelf devices and fully decentralised (requires no message passing)