Performance evaluation of the IEEE 802.11n random topology WLAN with QoS application

Abstract

The IEEE 802.11n supports high data rate transmissions due its physical layer Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) advanced antenna system and MAC layer enhancement features (frame aggregation and block acknowledgement). As a result this standard is very suitable for multimedia services through its Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA). This paper focuses on evaluating the Quality of Service (QoS) application on the performance of the IEEE 802.11n random topology WLAN. Three different number of nodes (3, 9 and 18) random topology with one access point are modeled and simulated by using the Riverbed OPNET 17.5 Modular to investigate the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) performance for different spatial streams. The result clarified the impact of QoS application and showed that its effect is best at the 18 node number topology. For a 4x4 MIMO, when QoS is applied and with respect to the no QoS application case, simulation results show a maximum improvement of 86.4%, 33.9%, 52.2% and 68.9% for throughput, delay, data drop and retransmission attempts, respectively.