Packet dispersion techniques over WiMAX links: challenges and problems

Transmission capacity related metrics have been widely estimated in wired network paths using packet dispersion techniques. However, unlike wired links, WiMAX links usually adopt mechanisms to avoid bandwidth waste on the wireless interface. In this article we consider state-of- the-art techniques for capacity estimation in an experimental environment that uses a WiMAX link in the path between two hosts. Obtained results show that packet dispersion techniques can fail drastically in their estimates due to specific features of the 802.16 standard, generally enabled by default to increase throughput. Furthermore, we speculate possible changes in the packet pair (and train) techniques to solve (or mitigate) the problems that must be considered in the development of a new technique to estimate the end-to-end bottleneck capacities WiMAX links.