Performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11-based wireless LANs under finite-load conditions

Since its release in 1999, IEEE 802.11 became the defacto standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Despite its widespread deployment, analytical modeling efforts of the IEEE 802.11 standard have been focusing on the performance under saturated load conditions. This paper aims at analytically modeling and analyzing the performance of the IEEE 802.11-based networks. The model proposed in this paper follows exactly the real implementation of the DCF method. Extensive NS2 simulations are conducted to verify the results of the analytical model. Our model gives a new interpretation for the saturation behavior reported in the literature, relates the critical point (inflection point) to the various system and traffic parameters and analytically explains why the RTS/CTS mechanism is favorable for certain offered loads.