Efficient multimedia transmission using adaptive packet bursting for wireless LANs

Abstract

In addition to an unprecedented 600 Mb/s physical data rate in upcoming standards with greater than 1 Gb/s being considered for future systems, 802.11 has evolved from its earlier incarnations to become a ubiquitous, high-throughput wireless access technology utilized in heterogeneous networks. Although capable of advanced QoS provisioning, commercial 802.11 implementations often support only a subset of QoS specifications, utilize manufacturer-specific QoS enhancements, or use sub-optimal MAC reference specifications with limited capability in achieving optimal system throughput and QoS provisioning. Although more efficient ARQ modes have been defined in the 802.11e and imminent 802.11n amendment standards, opportunities exist within this framework for further optimization through dynamic adaptation of key ARQ-related parameters, which is out of scope of current 802.11 standard specifications. Considering such opportunities, this article presents a novel adaptive ARQ scheme designed to improve the quality and reliability of multimedia transmission through the real-time adaptation of the maximum packet burst size and actual ARQ mode employed. Comprehensive simulation studies show that this scheme can potentially improve the QoS and throughput performance of multimedia traffic in both existing and future 802.11 wireless LANs.