A Novel Framework for Radio Resource Management in IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs

Abstract

In this paper we address the need to characterize and quantify resource usage in IEEE 802.1 1 WLANs in order to support radio resource management. We present a compact and intuitive framework for performance characterization and resource utilization that is based upon the concept of MAC bandwidth components. These MAC bandwidth components are directly related to the transmission rate and serve to quantify the resource requirements associated with accessing the wireless medium. We also introduce a graphical technique for presenting these MAC bandwidth components that illustrates how WLAN stations interact in contending for access to the wireless medium. We demonstrate the usefulness of this framework for radio resource management using a number of computer simulations based upon the emerging IEEE 802.11e QoS standard.