Analysis of the distribution of the backoff delay in 802.11 DCF: A step towards end-to-end delay guarantees in WLANs

Abstract

In this paper we present an analytical method to study the distribution of the backoff delay in an 802.11 DCF WLAN under saturation conditions. We show that, with our method, the probability that the delay is below a given threshold can be computed accurately and efficiently. We also discuss how our analysis can be used to perform admission control on the number of accepted stations in the WLAN in order to provide delay assurances to real-time applications. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.