On The Linear Behaviour of the Throughput of IEEE 802.11 DCF in Non-Saturated Conditions

Abstract

We propose a linear model of the throughput of the IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) protocol at the data link layer in non-saturated traffic conditions. We show that the throughput is a linear function of the packet arrival rate (PAR) $\lambda$ with a slope depending on both the number of contending stations and the average payload length. We also derive the interval of validity of the proposed model by showing the presence of a critical $\lambda$, above which the station begins operating in saturated traffic conditions. The analysis is based on the multi-dimensional Markovian state transition model proposed by Liaw \textit{et al.} with the aim of describing the behaviour of the MAC layer in unsaturated traffic conditions. Simulation results closely match the theoretical derivations, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed linear model.

arXiv commentTo appear on IEEE Communications Letters, November 2007

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Modelling and Analysis of the Distributed Coordination Function of IEEE 802.11 with Multirate Capability
• On the Throughput Allocation for Proportional Fairness in Multirate IEEE 802.11 DCF
• A Novel Proportional Fairness Criterion for Throughput Allocation in Multirate IEEE 802.11
• On the Optimization of the IEEE 802.11 DCF: A Cross-Layer Perspective