On the decrease in frame reception probability under heavy transmission loads in IEEE 802.11 networks

It is widely accepted that the reception probability of a wireless link tends to decrease with the increase of network load. This is commonly attributed to factors such as the increase in frame collision probability under heavier medium usage. We present experimental results regarding this probability decrease in IEEE 802.11 networks in order to investigate the causes of this phenomenon. Surprisingly, our experiments indicate that when a wireless interface is under heavy transmission load, its capacity of receiving frames from other stations diminishes, leading to a noticeable drop in its frame reception probability, even when collisions are not an issue.

► Experimental results under heavy loaded IEEE 802.11 networks
► Results show a decrease in frame reception probability in evaluated scenarios.
► Collisions and congestion are not the only causes for this phenomenon.
► We demonstrate hardware limitations in various commercial 802.11 implementations.