Research Article
Effect of 802.11 Adaptive Exponential Backoffs on the Fluidity of Downlink Flows in Mesh Networks
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/ICST.WIOPT2008.3164, author={Adel Aziz and Roger Karrer and Patrick Thiran}, title={Effect of 802.11 Adaptive Exponential Backoffs on the Fluidity of Downlink Flows in Mesh Networks}, proceedings={4th International ICST Workshop On Wireless Network Measurement}, publisher={IEEE}, proceedings_a={WINMEE}, year={2008}, month={8}, keywords={Downlink Mesh networks Network topology Spread spectrum communication Telecommunication traffic Testing Throughput Traffic control Wireless application protocol Wireless mesh networks}, doi={10.4108/ICST.WIOPT2008.3164} }- Adel Aziz
Roger Karrer
Patrick Thiran
Year: 2008
Effect of 802.11 Adaptive Exponential Backoffs on the Fluidity of Downlink Flows in Mesh Networks
WINMEE
IEEE
DOI: 10.4108/ICST.WIOPT2008.3164
Abstract
Efficient multi-hop traffic management is a need for successful Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) deployment. Using an analogy with fluid mechanism, we classify a flow as laminar if the packets flow smoothly from the Wired Access Point (WAP) over the mesh network, and as turbulent otherwise. We identify a particular but frequent collision scenario, which sets the flow to be turbulent, resulting in a strongly reduced downlink end-to-end throughput. We show that the exponential backoff mechanism in an 802.11 WMN is responsible for this problem and suggest a modification of the current exponential backoff policy of 802.11 for WMNs. We support these findings both with simulations and real measurements on a testbed infrastructure.
Copyright © 2008–2025 ICST
