IEEE 802.11.e PROTOCOL PEREFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLAN) are widely deployed and popular WLAN technologies worldwide. As the demand for multimedia applications like VoIP and video streaming grows, there is a need to provide Quality of Service (QoS) in 802.11 WLANs. To address this, the IEEE 802.11e standard introduced an enhancement called Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) using a contention window.

This thesis comprises three parts. Firstly, an overview of the IEEE 802.11 standard and its DCF mechanism is provided, highlighting the limitations. Then, a detailed study is conducted on the mechanisms used to support QoS in the IEEE 802.11e standard and its improved variants.

The second part focuses on analyzing the differentiation capabilities of important EDCA QoS parameters in ad hoc WLANs, specifically using throughput analysis. This analysis aims to provide insights on how to effectively apply QoS settings to meet the QoS requirements.

In the final part of the research, a comparison is made between the proposals of the IEEE 802.11e standard and the baseline IEEE 802.11 standard. Simulations using the NS3 simulator are performed to evaluate these standards, and a comprehensive discussion is presented based on the simulation results. The research confirms the enhanced QoS capabilities of IEEE 802.11e compared to IEEE 802.11 Keywords: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11e, DCF, EDCA, Quality of Service (QoS), WLAN, mac.