Throughput Performance of Saturated 802.11g Networks

In this paper we evaluate the throughput properties of 802.11g networks in the saturated limit. Using a modification to existing analytical models we show how our new results solve previously reported dicrepancies between analytical throughput predictions and measured throughputs. We investigate the performance of saturated 802.11 g networks as a function of various 802.11g PHY parameters, including the transmission rate of ACKframes, the slot size, the use of EIFS (extended inter-frame spacing) and the total PCLP (physical convergence layer protocol) overhead. We also investigate the throughput performance as a function of important MAC layer parameters. An interesting result we find is the how the predicted throughput depends on the Contention Window value and the number of stations. The results reported here will be of value to the ongoing study of multimedia application deployments over high PHY data rate 802.11 g networks.