Virtual 802.11 wireless networks with guaranteed throughout sharing

Abstract

In this work, we present how programmable data-plane technology (software routers) offers an easy-to-apply mechanism to create virtual wireless networks and support buffering and scheduling decisions. Furthermore, we present a feedback-based buffering mechanism that is able to provide throughput ratio guarantees per virtual network, without requiring any modifications in the 802.11 driver and without relying on statistical knowledge of the workload per virtual network or knowledge regarding the channel conditions. We implement the proposed mechanism in a software router in a 802.11 Access Point and we evaluate its performance in a wireless testbed environment. The methodology and the mechanics developed are generic and with some modifications can be applied to differentiating services for other types of guarantees like delay.