Load Distribution in Non-homogeneous Wireless Local Area Networks

This paper presents an approach to distributing traffic among capability-varying access points (APs) in wireless Local Area Networks. Under consideration is a non-homogeneous environment where maximum transport rates over radio channels differ from AP to AP. We let each new station associate itself to a best-fit AP, allowing for received signal strength, potential responsiveness, and remaining channel capacity of every AP in range. Our approach is developed for alignment with standard protocols, keeping legacy stations operable while maintaining forward compatibility. Our development augments the functionality of APs such that association is decided by APs collaboratively. Simulation results show that our approach outperforms counterpart schemes by an appreciable amount in terms of throughout, transmission delay, and load distribution. Our approach is also of avail to homogeneous network settings. Featuring simplicity and efficiency, our design lends itself to other types of contention-based wireless network like ZigBee as well.