The density based access method: A novel approach to optimizing run-time throughput for IEEE 802.11 DCF access control

According to previous work, the performance of the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) (i.e., the basic access method of the IEEE 802.11 protocol) is far from optimum due to use of the binary exponential backoff (BEB) scheme as its collision avoidance mechanism. There has been considerable discussion of DCF issues and its performance analysis. However, most schemes assume an ideal channel, which is contrary to realistic wireless environments. In this paper, we present a simple yet pragmatic distributed algorithm, designated the density based access method (DBM), which allows stations to dynamically optimize the network throughput based on run-time measurements of the channel status. Our simulation results demonstrate that the DBM is highly accurate. The performance in terms of throughput and fairness is nearly optimal by use of the proposed scheme. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.