PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MAC PROTOCOL BASED ON CDMA FOR WIRELESS 802.11 NETWORKS

Abstract

The popularity of 802.11 wireless networks is based on the access control of the wireless medium. The greatest challenges this technology faces, however, are interference and collisions caused by users sharing the same coverage area. These two factors can result in a low throughput, even though the signal is transmitted at a high data transmission rate, or in low channel capacity when few users are transmitting. To solve these weaknesses, this work proposes a protocol that handles transmission rates dynamically to maximize the transmission success rate. Two schemes are proposed to address low throughput and low channel capacity. The first scheme dynamically monitors the channel in real time and increases or diminishes the transmission rate accordingly, while the second administers an optimal combination of transmission rates to minimize interference and collisions. Simulations show that the protocol improves traffic transmission in the network, as compared with fixed rated mechanisms used to access the wireless medium.