Modeling and Simulation of Performance limits in IEEE 802.11 Point Coordination Function

Abstract

The IEEE 802.11 standard is based on prevalence of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology. The performance of Wireless network depends mainly on the network throughput and average delay. Network requirements change according to applications deployed. Thus, the performance limits of IEEE 802.11 WLAN system should be evaluated and analyzed under the fundamental access mechanism for medium access control (MAC) called point coordination function (PCF). In this paper, we study the performance limits of IEEE 802.11n standard in PCF MAC layer through calculating theoretical maximum throughput (TMT) and delay time using an analytical model. Moreover, we develop a simulation model to study the performance limits using OPNET modeler. In the simulation, we examine the effects of packet size and number of stations on the TMT and delay time. Results show that the Delay time and TMT increase as the packet size increases, and as the number of stations increases, the Delay time increases and the TMT decreases.