MAC level Throughput comparison: 802.11ax vs. 802.11ac

TL;DR

This paper compares the maximum throughput of IEEE 802.11ax and 802.11ac in a single-user scenario, analyzing the impact of modulation schemes and acknowledgment modes, showing 802.11ax's superior performance.

Contribution

It provides a detailed throughput comparison between 802.11ax and 802.11ac considering different acknowledgment modes and channel reliability.

Findings

802.11ax outperforms 802.11ac by up to 48% in unreliable channels.

802.11ax outperforms 802.11ac by up to 29% in reliable channels.

Performance varies with acknowledgment mode and channel conditions.

Abstract

In this paper we compare between the maximum Throughputs received in IEEE 802.11ax and IEEE 802.11ac in a scenario where a single user continuously transmits to another one. The comparison is done as a function of the Modulation/Coding scheme in use. In IEEE 802.11ax we consider two modes of operation where in one Acknowledgment frame up to 64 or 256 frames are acknowledged respectively. IEEE 802.11ax outperforms IEEE 802.11ac by at most 48% and 29% in unreliable and reliable channels respectively.