Multi-user Parallel Channel Access for high efficiency carrier grade wireless LANs

The IEEE 802.11 specification for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) supports 20 MHz channels utilizing bandwidths up to 160 MHz. However, the support of devices simultaneously transmitting over different, non-overlapping channels, is not specifically addressed. Recently, there has been interest in developing a 802.11 specification for Carrier Grade Wi-Fi which has led to the requirement for solutions with efficient frequency resource utilization that are not currently supported. In this paper we propose a Medium Access Control (MAC) method, called Multi-User Parallel Channel Access (MU/PCA) that enables simultaneous transmission to multiple devices of various bandwidths, while maintaining backward compatibility with 802.11. We present analytical and simulation results demonstrating the throughput gains that can be achieved using the proposed MU/PCA scheme as compared to the current Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) scheme that is used in 802.11.