Dynamic decision making for candidate access point selection

Abstract

In this paper, we solve the problem of candidate access point selection in 802.11 networks, when there is more than one access point available to a station. We use the QBSS (quality of service enabled basic service set) Load Element of the new WLAN standard 802.11e as prior information and deploy a decision making algorithm based on reinforcement learning. We show that using reinforcement learning, wireless devices can reach more efficient decisions compared to static methods of decision making which opens the way to a more autonomic communication environment. We also present how the reinforcement learning algorithm reacts to changing situations enabling self adaptation. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2006.