Performance analysis of multi-hop flows in IEEE 802.11 networks: A flexible and accurate modeling framework

Abstract

Multi-hop wireless networks are often regarded as a promising means to extend the limited coverage area offered by WLANs. However, they are usually associated with poor and uncertain performance in terms of available bandwidth and packet losses, which clearly stands as a limitation to their use. In this paper, we consider the performance evaluation of a multi-hop path (also called chain), based on the IEEE 802.11 DCF. The proposed modeling framework is constructive and versatile, so that it can handle various types of multi-hop wireless paths, including scenarios with two flows in opposite directions, and topologies where nodes are exposed to the well-known hidden node problem. The models derived from our framework are conceptually simple, easy to implement and produce generally accurate results for the attained goodput of flows, as well as the datagram loss probability. Typical relative errors for these two quantities are below a few percent. Also, fundamental phenomena occurring in multi-hop wireless networks, such as performance collapse and starvation, are well captured by the models.