Research Article
Online Association Policies in IEEE 802.11 WLANs
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1109/WIOPT.2006.1666467, author={Gaurav S. Kasbekar and Joy Kuri and Pavan Nuggehalli}, title={Online Association Policies in IEEE 802.11 WLANs}, proceedings={4th International ICST Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc, and Wireless Networks}, publisher={IEEE}, proceedings_a={WIOPT}, year={2006}, month={8}, keywords={}, doi={10.1109/WIOPT.2006.1666467} }- Gaurav S. Kasbekar
Joy Kuri
Pavan Nuggehalli
Year: 2006
Online Association Policies in IEEE 802.11 WLANs
WIOPT
IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/WIOPT.2006.1666467
Abstract
In this paper, we study the performance of client-Access Point (AP) association policies in IEEE 802.11 based WLANs. In many scenarios, clients have a choice of APs with whom they can associate. We are interested in finding association policies which lead to optimal system performance. More specifically, we study the stability of different association policies as a function of the spatial distribution of arriving clients. We find for each policy the range of client arrival rates for which the system is stable. For small networks, we use Lyapunov function methods to formally establish the stability or instability of certain policies in specific scenarios. The RAT heuristic policy introduced in our prior work is shown to have very good stability properties when compared to several other natural policies. We also validate our analytical results by detailed simulation employing the IEEE 802.11 MAC.