Data traffic load balancing and QoS in IEEE 802.11 network: Experimental study of the signal strength effect

The performances of multimedia applications built on wireless systems depend on bandwidth availability that might heavily affect the quality of service. The IEEE 802.11 standards do not provide performed mechanism for bandwidth management through data load distribution among different APs of the network. Then, an AP can be heavily overloaded causing throughput degradation.Load Balancing Algorithms (LBAs) was been considered as one of the attractive solution to share the traffic through the available access points bandwidths. However, applying the load balancing algorithm and shifting a mobile connection from an access point to another without considering the received signal strength indicator of the concerned APs might causes worst communication performances. This paper is a contribution to check the performance’s limits of the LBA algorithm through experimental evaluation of communication metrics for MPEG-4 video transmission over IEEE 802.11 network. Then, the paper focuses on the proposition of a new LBA algorithm structure with the consideration of the RSS level.

Graphical abstract.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► We study the efficiency of Load Balancing Algorithm (LBA) for QoS management. ► We explore the effect of the Received Signal Strength on the performance of LBA. ► We discuss in depth the limit of LBA to improve QoS and the duality with the RSS. ► We propose a new structure of the LBA that considers the RSS.