A directional MAC for switchable directional antennas to enhance throughput in crowded infrastructure wireless networks

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Oh, Seoungyoul | Lee, Ki-Seok | Ko, Hyeonmok | Kim, Cheeha^;

Affiliations: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea

Note: [] Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 54 279 5655; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: In conventional infrastructure wireless networks, access points and nodes use omni-directional antennas. In a crowded situation, users have experienced throughput degradation due to various reasons. In this paper, we propose wireless LANs equipped with switchable directional antennas and a directional MAC protocol designed for them. In the proposed wireless LAN, every node including access point is always engaged in directional transmission and reception, but a node is allowed to receive omni-directionally only for association process. This new system enhances throughput in overlapped multiple basic service sets by reducing interference, increasing spatial reuse, and avoiding transmission loss phenomenon (TLP). The simulation results show that the proposed protocol outperforms conventional IEEE 802.11 DCF, in terms of throughput in crowded infrastructure wireless networks.

Keywords: Wireless LAN, computer networks, directional communication, computer communications

DOI: 10.3233/JHS-130479

Journal: Journal of High Speed Networks, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 297-310, 2013