Max-min Fairness in 802.11 Mesh Networks

In this paper we build upon the recent observation that the 802.11 rate region is log-convex and, for the first time, characterise max-min fair rate allocations for a large class of 802.11 wireless mesh networks. By exploiting features of the 802.11e/n MAC, in particular TXOP packet bursting, we are able to use this characterisation to establish a straightforward, practically implementable approach for achieving max-min throughput fairness. We demonstrate that this approach can be readily extended to encompass time-based fairness in multi-rate 802.11 mesh networks

A control theoretic approach to achieve proportional fairness in 802.11e EDCA WLANs

This paper considers proportional fairness amongst ACs in an EDCA WLAN for provision of distinct QoS requirements and priority parameters. A detailed theoretical analysis is provided to derive the optimal station attempt probability which leads to a proportional fair allocation of station throughputs. The desirable fairness can be achieved using a centralised adaptive control approach. This approach is based on multivariable statespace control theory and uses the Linear Quadratic Integral (LQI) controller to periodically update CWmin till the optimal fair point of operation. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the control approach has high accuracy performance and fast convergence speed for general network scenarios. To our knowledge this might be the first time that a closed-loop control system is designed for EDCA WLANs to achieve proportional fairness

Tournament MAC with Constant Size Congestion Window for WLAN

In the context of radio distributed networks, we present a generalized approach for the Medium Access Control (MAC) with fixed congestion window. Our protocol is quite simple to analyze and can be used in a lot of different situations. We give mathematical evidence showing that our performance is tight, in the sense that no protocol with fixed congestion window can do better. We also place ourselves in the WiFi/WiMAX framework, and show experimental results enlightening collision reduction of 14% to 21% compared to the best known other methods. We show channel capacity improvement, and fairness considerations

Proportional Fair MU-MIMO in 802.11 WLANs

We consider the proportional fair rate allocation in an 802.11 WLAN that supports multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) transmission by one or more stations. We characterise, for the first time, the proportional fair allocation of MU-MIMO spatial streams and station transmission opportunities. While a number of features carry over from the case without MU-MIMO, in general neither flows nor stations need to be allocated equal airtime when MU-MIMO is available