IEEE 802.11ax: High-Efficiency WLANs

TL;DR

This paper reviews the upcoming IEEE 802.11ax standard, highlighting its technical features, potential benefits, and the network functionalities needed to enhance high-efficiency WLAN performance.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of IEEE 802.11ax features, advantages, drawbacks, and the network-level functionalities essential for next-generation WLANs.

Findings

Introduction of new PHY/MAC features for higher throughput

Analysis of advantages and drawbacks of IEEE 802.11ax features

Discussion on network functionalities for improved user experience

Abstract

IEEE 802.11ax-2019 will replace both IEEE 802.11n-2009 and IEEE 802.11ac-2013 as the next high-throughput Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) amendment. In this paper, we review the expected future WLAN scenarios and use-cases that justify the push for a new PHY/MAC IEEE 802.11 amendment. After that, we overview a set of new technical features that may be included in the IEEE 802.11ax-2019 amendment and describe both their advantages and drawbacks. Finally, we discuss some of the network-level functionalities that are required to fully improve the user experience in next-generation WLANs and note their relation with other on-going IEEE 802.11 amendments.