SatOpt partition: dividing throughput-stability region for IEEE 802.11 DCF networks - Liang Yong

This article investigates the throughput stability of nonsaturated 802.11 networks with distributed coordination function (DCF). We find that this throughput stability exhibits distinct characteristics in two different regions (or scopes) of parameter settings: the maximum stable throughput is higher than the saturation throughput and lasts for a long duration (say, in order of months) in one region, while the former is bounded by the latter in another region. Our core contribution is an innovative approach (called SatOpt partition) that can identify these two regions quickly and accurately, by a comparison between the saturated and optimal attempt rates. Our partition approach is suitable for a wide range of 802.11 DCF contention window settings, while our partition result is unique. Further, for 802.11 DCF standard settings, we predict the maximum stable throughput successfully, and reveal that it is often higher than the …