Multi-channel Bonding Effects of the IEEE 802.11ac on the WLAN Performance

The IEEE802.11ac standard of wireless networking operates in the 5GHz frequency range and offers higher data rates and improved performance compared to earlier standards. One of the key features of 802.11ac is channel bonding, which allows for the use of multiple channels simultaneously to increase the available bandwidth. In the 5GHz frequency range, channel bonding is typically achieved by combining adjacent 20 MHz channels into wider channels of up to 160 MHz. This provides a significant increase in available bandwidth, which can lead to faster data rates and improved overall network performance. As a result, channel bonding is an important technology for improving wireless network performance, and it is widely used in many applications, including video streaming, online gaming, and enterprise networks. In this research paper, multiple scenarios are examined, with different channel bandwidth configurations including (8x20, 4x40, 2x80, & 1x160 MHz), as well as (4x20, 2x40, & 1x80 MHz), and (2x20 & 1x40 MHz). The scenarios also vary in terms of MIMO spatial streams, with options for (1x1, 2x2, 4x4, and 8x8 SS). To simulate these scenarios, the network simulator (NS-3) version 3.37 is utilized. The simulation results show that when bonding (8x20, 4x20, and 2x20 MHz) is considered, the highest throughput and least amount of delay values are acquired. Specifically, for MIMO (8x8) SS and with respect to the Static Channel Bonding (SCB) (1x160, 1x80, and 1x40 MHz), the effect of DCB is more clarified specially when high number of nodes scenario (48) is used. The throughput values for the bondings (8x20, 4x20, & 2x20 MHz) are (4365, 1840, & 720 Mbps) respectively, compared to (3055, 982.4, and 378.5 Mbps) for 1x160, 1x80, and 1x40 MHz, and the delay values for (8x20, 4x20, & 2x20 MHz) are (0.0019, 0.0046, & 0.0117 Sec), compared to (0.0028, 0.0085, and 0.0222 Sec) for 1x160, 1x80, and 1x40 MHz.