Title: Access point selection algorithm for multi-rate WLANs to optimise throughput and guarantee fairness

Authors: Yanxiao Zhao, Min Song

Addresses: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA. ' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA

Abstract: A novel Access Point (AP) selection algorithm to maximise the system throughput while considering user fairness is proposed for multi-rate WLANs. When a new-coming user enters an overlapping area of multiple APs, it chooses the one to achieve the highest system throughput. For existing users that locate in the overlapping area, they may also need to change their AP associations due to the dynamic nature of traffic load. To enable the fairness among users, each user is guaranteed a minimum transmission opportunity. In-depth theoretical analysis and extensive simulations are performed to verify the throughput optimisation and user fairness.

Keywords: multi-rate WLANs; access point selection; throughput optimisation; opportunity fairness; wireless LANs; local area networks; minimum transmission opportunity; transmission guarantee; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAHUC.2011.042349

International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, 2011 Vol.8 No.3, pp.155 - 164

Received: 29 Dec 2009
Accepted: 30 Apr 2010
Published online: 05 Sep 2011 *

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