Smart access point selection for dense WLANs: A use-case

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of Access Point (AP) selection in large scale IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) through the study of a shopping mall use-case. We investigate through simulations the impact of a smart AP association algorithm including two strategies based on the Fittingness Factor (FF) concept, which considers the suitability of the requirements for different stations accessing the network, on the performance of the WLAN studied in this use-case. The proposed AP selection algorithm is implemented in a framework based on Software Defined Network (SDN), which handles the APs distributed in the WLAN of the considered shopping mall use-case. The simulation campaign illustrates the important gains, both in terms of users' satisfaction and assigned throughput compared against the AP selection suggested by the IEEE 802.11 standards. Moreover, this result gives to the service providers a trade-off between efficiency and complexity delivered by the proposed strategies included in our smart AP selection algorithm when the SDN framework is used to manage large WLANs.