Learning Wi-Fi performance

Accurate prediction of wireless network performance is important when performing link adaptation or resource allocation. However, the complexity of interference interactions at MAC and PHY layers, as well as the vast variety of possible wireless configurations make it notoriously hard to design explicit performance models. In this paper, we advocate an approach of “learning by observation” that can remove the need for designing explicit and complex performance models. We use machine learning techniques to learn implicit performance models, from a limited number of real-world measurements. These models do not require to know the internal mechanics of interfering Wi-Fi links. Yet, our results show that they improve accuracy by at least 49% compared to measurement-seeded models based on SINR. To demonstrate that learned models can be useful in practice, we build a new algorithm that uses such a model as an oracle to jointly allocate spectrum and transmit power. Our algorithm is utility-optimal, distributed, and it produces efficient allocations that significantly improve performance and fairness.