Thorough analysis of 802.11e star topology scenarios in the presence of hidden nodes

Abstract

In this paper the authors present a simulation study of two 802.11e network scenarios. The presented analysis is not only novel but most of all crucial for understanding how a theoretically simple star topology network can be degraded by the presence of hidden nodes. The authors discuss the results obtained during the analysis of two different star topologies where the hidden node problem exists and compare them with the corresponding ones without hidden nodes. Additionally, the usefulness of the four-way handshake mechanism is argued and, furthermore, brief descriptions of the currently known solutions of the hidden node problem are given. Finally, the authors signalize the need for a better MAC protocol and provide a number of important conclusions about the 802.11e nature. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.