Saturation Throughput - Delay Analysis of IEEE 802.11 DCF in Fading Channel

TL;DR

This paper provides an analytical study of IEEE 802.11 DCF performance in fading channels, revealing how error rates affect throughput, delay, and discard probability, with insights into retransmission limits and access methods.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Markov chain model accounting for frame errors and retransmission limits, offering new insights into WLAN performance under fading conditions.

Findings

Frame error rate significantly impacts throughput, delay, and discard probability.

Peak throughput is unaffected by the maximum number of retransmissions.

Discard probability is independent of access method (Basic or RTS/CTS).

Abstract

In this paper, we analytically analyzed the impact of an error-prone channel over all performance measures in a trafficsaturated IEEE 802.11 WLAN. We calculated station's transmission probability by using the modified Markov chain model of the backoff window size that considers the frame-error rates and maximal allowable number of retransmission attempts. The frame error rate has a significant impact over theoretical throughput, mean frame delay, and discard probability. The peak throughput of a WLAN is insensitive of the maximal number of retransmissions. Discard probabilities are insensitive to the station access method, Basic or RTS/CTS.