A Multichain Backoff Mechanism for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

The distributed coordination function (DCF) of IEEE 802.11 standard adopts the binary exponential backoff (BEB) for collision avoidance. In DCF, the contention window is reset to an initial value, i.e., CWmin, after each successful transmission. Much research has shown that this dramatic change of window size may degrade the network performance. Therefore, backoff algorithms, such as gentle DCF (GDCF), multiplicative increase–linear decrease (MILD), exponential increase–exponential decrease (EIED), etc., have been proposed that try to keep the memory of congestion level by not resetting the contention window after each successful transmission. This paper proposes a multichain backoff (MCB) algorithm, which allows stations to adapt to different congestion levels by using more than one backoff chain together with collision events caused by stations themselves as well as other stations as indications for choosing the next backoff chain. The performance of MCB is analyzed and compared with those of 802.11 DCF, GDCF, MILD, and EIED backoff algorithms. Simulation results show that, with multiple backoff chains and collision events as reference for chain transition, MCB can offer a higher throughput while still maintaining fair channel access than the existing backoff algorithms.     

Enhanced binary exponential backoff algorithm for fair channel access in the ieee 802.11 medium access control protocol

The medium access control protocol determines system throughput in wireless mobile ad hoc networks following the ieee 802.11 standard. Under this standard, asynchronous data transmissions have a defined distributed coordination function that allows stations to contend for channel usage in a distributed manner via the carrier sensing multiple access with collision avoidance protocol. In distributed coordination function, a slotted binary exponential backoff (BEB) algorithm resolves collisions of packets transmitted simultaneously by different stations. The BEB algorithm prevents packet collisions during simultaneous access by randomizing moments at stations attempting to access the wireless channels. However, this randomization does not eliminate packet collisions entirely, leading to reduced system throughput and increased packet delay and drop. In addition, the BEB algorithm results in unfair channel access among stations. In this paper, we propose an enhanced binary exponential backoff algorithm to improve channel access fairness by adjusting the manner of increasing or decreasing the contention window based on the number of the successfully sent frames. We propose several configurations and use the NS2 simulator to analyze network performance. The enhanced binary exponential backoff algorithm improves channel access fairness, significantly increases network throughput capacity, and reduces packet delay and drop. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An effective medium contention method to improve the performance of IEEE 802.11

In this paper, we propose an effective medium access mechanism to enhance performance of the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF). One of the primary issues of 802.11 is a contention-based medium access control (MAC) mechanism over a limited medium, which is shared by many mobile users. In the original 802.11 DCF, the binary exponential backoff algorithm with specific contention window size is employed to coordinate the competition for shared channel. Instead of binary exponential increase, we adopt linear increase for the contention window that is determined according to the competing number of nodes. We also assume that the access point can broadcast the number of mobile nodes to each station through management frames. An analytical model is developed for the throughput performance of the wireless medium. Using simulation results from the NS2 simulator, we show that our model can accurately predict the system saturation throughput, and can obtain better performance in terms of throughput, fairness, and packet drop.     

A smart exponential‐threshold‐linear backoff mechanism for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

Based on the standardized IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) protocol, this paper proposes a new backoff mechanism, called Smart Exponential‐Threshold‐Linear (SETL) Backoff Mechanism, to enhance the system performance of contention‐based wireless networks. In the IEEE 802.11 DCF scheme, the smaller contention window (CW) will increase the collision probability, but the larger CW will delay the transmission. Hence, in the proposed SETL scheme, a threshold is set to determine the behavior of CW after each transmission. When the CW is smaller than the threshold, the CW of a competing station is exponentially adjusted to lower collision probability. Conversely, if the CW is larger than the threshold, the CW size is tuned linearly to prevent large transmission delay. Through extensive simulations, the results show that the proposed SETL scheme provides a better system throughput and lower collision rate in both light and heavy network loads than the related backoff algorithm schemes, including Binary Exponential Backoff (BEB), Exponential Increase Exponential Decrease (EIED) and Linear Increase Linear Decrease (LILD). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A k-Round Elimination Contention Scheme for WLANs

The contention resolution scheme is a key component in carrier-sense-based wireless MAC protocols. It has a major impact on MAC'S performance metrics such as throughput, delay, and jitter. The IEEE 802.11 DCF adopts a simple contention resolution scheme, namely, the binary exponential backoff (BEB) scheme. The BEB scheme achieves a reasonable performance for transmitting best-effort packets in small-sized wireless networks. However, as the network size increases, it suffers from inefficiency because of the medium contention, which leads to reduced performance. The main reason is that the BEB mechanism incurs an ever- increasing collision rate as the number of contending nodes increases. We devise a novel contention resolution scheme, a k-round elimination contention (k-EC) scheme. The k-EC scheme exhibits high efficiency and robustness during the collision resolution. More importantly, it is insensitive to the number of contending nodes. This feature makes it feasible for use in networks of different sizes. Simulation results show that the k-EC scheme offers a powerful remedy to medium contention resolution. It significantly outperforms the IEEE 802.11 DCF scheme in all the MAC'S performance metrics and also exhibits better fairness.     

一种基于实时优化思想的多址接入协议性能分析

该文提出了一种基于慢退避和实时优化思想的碰撞减少多址接入CRMA (Collision Reduced Multiple Access)协议。CRMA协议将实时优化的思想同慢退避的思想相结合,有效地解决了IEEE 802.11协议二进制指数退避算法成功发送数据帧后没有记录网络当前繁忙程度的缺点,能够更准确地记录数据帧成功发送后高负荷网络的退避阶数,降低数据帧接入信道的碰撞概率,提高无线信道的利用率。新的多址接入协议能够与现有的IEEE 802.11协议完全兼容,具有简单、无开销、完全分布性和自适应性的特点。分析和仿真结果表明,CRMA协议较之改进前的IEEE 802.11协议和其它最新的多址接入算法能够更有效地利用网络中已有的信息,更准确地估计网络当前的竞争状态,表现出更好的网络性能。     

IEEE 802.11移动自组织网络节点竞争窗口长度的概率分布

 在基于IEEE 802.11的移动自组织网络中,MAC(Medium Access Control)层提供了DCF(Distributed Coordinate Function)以控制节点对无线信道的争用.DCF包括了BEB (Binary Exponential Backoff)算法.该文对BEB的重要参数——竞争窗口CW(Contention Window)进行研究,通过随机建模,导出了竞争窗口长度的概率分布,并进行数值分析.研究结果可应用于IEEE 802.11移动自组织网络.     

IEEE802．11DCF的一种改进退避算法

IEEE802．11中的分布式协调功能（DCF）通常采用二进制指数退避（BEB）算法。为了提高该算法的性能,在BEB算法的基础上提出了一种改进的退避算法,该算法考虑前一数据包的冲突情况,指数减小竞争窗口（CW）,并尽可能减小退避过程中的分布式帧间间隔（DIFS）开销。基于OPNET网络仿真平台,对改进算法的性能进行了仿真评估。仿真结果表明,改进后的退避算法在吞吐量和时延方面,其性能优于BEB算法和指数增加指数减小（EIED）算法。     

基于IEEE802.11的星间链路最短接入时延退避算法

为满足空间信息网络低轨卫星用户多址接入骨干中继卫星的访问需求,基于IEEE 802.11机制,提出最短接入时延退避算法（Delay-Optimal Backoff,DOB）,可解决大时空尺度条件下,传统二进制退避算法（Binary Exponential Backoff,BEB）造成的网络平均接入时延高和吞吐量低的问题.根据用户卫星与中继卫星的相对位置特性,设定中继卫星通信窗口,利用通信窗口内不同用户卫星数量时用户接入时延与平均接入请求概率的变化关系,确定最短接入时延条件下用户平均接入请求概率,实现动态调整碰撞窗口大小.研究结果表明,该算法使网络接入时延较BEB算法平均降低了10s,饱和吞吐量提升一倍,归一化业务量阈值比BEB算法增加至0.6,网络多址接入性能显著提高.     

IEEE802.11无线局域网中一种支持业务区分的回退算法

支持QoS的MAC机制是WLAN支持QoS的关键所在.我们已经给出了一种低分组碰撞概率的MAC层回退机制——RWBO+BEB.该文进一步讨论如何让RWBO+BEB支持业务区分的问题.首先提出了一个Markov链模型,分析如何根据无线终端的带宽比率设置最小竞争窗口,然后给出了一种新的支持业务区分的回退算法——DS-RWBO,仿真结果表明,DS-RWBO能根据局域网中每个终端的带宽比率分配无线信道的带宽资源.     

新的改进IEEE 802.11 DCF性能的退避机制

分布式协调功能DCF是IEEE802.11标准最基本的媒体接入方法,它的核心是载波检测多址接入/冲突避免（CSMA/CA）机制,通过退避算法,减少碰撞的概率。提出了一种新的退避机制改进IEEE802.11DCF饱和吞吐量性能,建立了三维马尔可夫链网络模型详细研究分析,同时利用NS2对所提出的机制进行仿真,比较了改进后的802.11DCF饱和吞吐量与原802.11DCF的饱和吞吐量的大小,仿真结果证明了算法的准确有效。     

有限负载下802.11 DCF的性能分析及优化

利用三维马尔可夫链和M/G/1/K队列建立了有限负载下DCF机制的性能模型,分析了终端数量、传输负载、二进制指数回退机制及MAC层有限队列对系统性能的影响.基于该模型,推导了有限负载下最大化吞吐量的最优最小竞争窗口的闭式解.仿真结果表明,模型能够有效地预测有限负载下DCF的性能,根据传输负载调整最小竞争窗口大小能够获得最大化吞吐量.     

EBA: an enhancement of the IEEE 802.11 DCF via distributed reservation

The IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs) employs a medium access control (MAC), called distributed coordination function (DCF), which is based on carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). The collision avoidance mechanism utilizes the random backoff prior to each frame transmission attempt. The random nature of the backoff reduces the collision probability, but cannot completely eliminate collisions. It is known that the throughput performance of the 802.11 WLAN is significantly compromised as the number of stations increases. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed reservation-based MAC protocol, called early backoff announcement (EBA), which is backward compatible with the legacy DCF. Under EBA, a station announces its future backoff information in terms of the number of backoff slots via the MAC header of its frame being transmitted. All the stations receiving the information avoid collisions by excluding the same backoff duration when selecting their future backoff value. Through extensive simulations, EBA is found to achieve a significant increase in the throughput performance as well as a higher degree of fairness compared to the 802.11 DCF.     

Performance analysis of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol for wireless LANs

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) are extremely popular being almost everywhere including business, office and home deployments. The IEEE 802.11 protocol is the dominating standard for WLANs. The essential medium access control (MAC) mechanism of 802.11 is called distributed co‐ordination function (DCF). This paper provides a simple and accurate analysis using Markov chain modelling to compute IEEE 802.11 DCF performance, in the absence of hidden stations and transmission errors. This mathematical analysis calculates in addition to the throughput efficiency, the average packet delay, the packet drop probability and the average time to drop a packet for both basic access and RTS/CTS medium access schemes. The derived analysis, which takes into account packet retry limits, is validated by comparison with OPNET simulation results. We demonstrate that a Markov chain model presented in the literature, which also calculates throughput and packet delay by introducing an additional transition state to the Markov chain model, does not appear to model IEEE 802.11 correctly, leading to ambiguous conclusions for its performance. We also carry out an extensive and detailed study on the influence on performance of the initial contention window size (CW), maximum CW size and data rate. Performance results are presented to identify the dependence on the backoff procedure parameters and to give insights on the issues affecting IEEE 802.11 DCF performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Achieving performance enhancement in IEEE 802.11 WLANs by using the DIDD backoff mechanism

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) based on the IEEE 802.11 standards have been widely implemented mainly because of their easy deployment and low cost. The IEEE 802.11 collision avoidance procedures utilize the binary exponential backoff (BEB) scheme that reduces the collision probability by doubling the contention window after a packet collision. In this paper, we propose an easy‐to‐implement and effective contention window‐resetting scheme, called double increment double decrement (DIDD), in order to enhance the performance of IEEE 802.11 WLANs. DIDD is simple, fully compatible with IEEE 802.11 and does not require any estimation of the number of contending wireless stations. We develop an alternative mathematical analysis for the proposed DIDD scheme that is based on elementary conditional probability arguments rather than bi‐dimensional Markov chains that have been extensively utilized in the literature. We carry out a detailed performance study and we identify the improvement of DIDD comparing to the legacy BEB for both basic access and request‐to‐send/clear‐to‐send (RTS/CTS) medium access mechanisms. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ad hoc网络中一种生命周期约束的自适应退避算法

在IEEE 802.11标准定义的BEB退避算法基础上,提出一种生命周期约束的自适应退避算法LCAB,以生命周期代替最大重传次数作为分组丢弃的依据,并根据网络忙闲程度自适应地调整节点执行退避过程的权限,以最大化系统归一化有效吞吐量,适合于ad hoc网络中有严格时延要求的VoIP等实时性业务.构建Markov链模型分析LCAB算法性能,得到系统归一化有效吞吐量表达式.仿真结果表明,理论分析与仿真结果一致,且LCAB算法的归一化有效吞吐量优于BEB算法.     

Dynamic tuning of the IEEE 802.11 protocol to achieve a theoreticalthroughput limit

In wireless LANs (WLANs), the medium access control (MAC) protocol is the main element that determines the efficiency in sharing the limited communication bandwidth of the wireless channel. In this paper we focus on the efficiency of the IEEE 802.11 standard for WLANs. Specifically, we analytically derive the average size of the contention window that maximizes the throughput, hereafter theoretical throughput limit, and we show that: 1) depending on the network configuration, the standard can operate very far from the theoretical throughput limit; and 2) an appropriate tuning of the backoff algorithm can drive the IEEE 802.11 protocol close to the theoretical throughput limit. Hence we propose a distributed algorithm that enables each station to tune its backoff algorithm at run-time. The performances of the IEEE 802.11 protocol, enhanced with our algorithm, are extensively investigated by simulation. Specifically, we investigate the sensitiveness of our algorithm to some network configuration parameters (number of active stations, presence of hidden terminals). Our results indicate that the capacity of the enhanced protocol is very close to the theoretical upper bound in all the configurations analyzed     

Improving throughput through dynamically tuning contention window size in dense wireless network

With the boom of wireless devices, the number of wireless users under wireless local area networks (WLANs) has increased dramatically. However, the standard backoff mechanism in IEEE 802.11 adopts fixed initial contention window (CW) size without considering changes of network load, which leads to a high collision probability and low channel utilization in bursty arrivals. In this paper, a novel CW dynamic adjustment scheme is proposed to achieve high throughput performance in dense user environment. In the proposed scheme, the initial CW size is dynamically adjusted to optimum according to the measured packet collision probability. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can significantly improve the throughput performance.     

基于Ad hoc网络的新EDCA参数调整方案

IEEE802.11e标准中业务优先级不同的AC（access category）是通过设置不同的竞争窗口最大、最小值CWmax,CWmin和仲裁帧间隔值来体现的,如高优先级AC设置小的CWmin,CWmax和AIFS值.研究表明,EDCA对每个AC指定的默认参数值只适用于中等负载、节点数目少的网络场景,并不适用于负载较重、节点数目较多且链路动态变化的Ad hoc网络环境.提出了一种根据网络状况动态调整IEEE 802.11e EDCA的QoS参数的新方案I-ED-CA,该方案根据网络状态调整竞争窗口CW,并通过修改退避计数器值调整AIFS参数,使I-EDCA适合动态变化的Ad hoc网络环境,采用NS2仿真软件对EDCA改进协议I-EDCA进行仿真.仿真结果表明,随着网络中负载的增加,I-EDCA的吞吐量表现平稳,而EDCA吞吐量是下降的.另外,在业务公平性方面,对优先级不同的业务I-EDCA比EDCA的表现更公平.     

Performance analysis of the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordinationfunction

The IEEE has standardized the 802.11 protocol for wireless local area networks. The primary medium access control (MAC) technique of 802.11 is called the distributed coordination function (DCF). The DCF is a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) scheme with binary slotted exponential backoff. This paper provides a simple, but nevertheless extremely accurate, analytical model to compute the 802.11 DCF throughput, in the assumption of finite number of terminals and ideal channel conditions. The proposed analysis applies to both the packet transmission schemes employed by DCF, namely, the basic access and the RTS/CTS access mechanisms. In addition, it also applies to a combination of the two schemes, in which packets longer than a given threshold are transmitted according to the RTS/CTS mechanism. By means of the proposed model, we provide an extensive throughput performance evaluation of both access mechanisms of the 802.11 protocol