Effect of payload length variation and retransmissions on multimedia in 802.11a WLANs

Multimedia transmission over wireless local area networks is challenging due to the varying nature of the wireless channel as well as the inherent difference between multimedia and data traffic. In the MAC layer, a single bit error in the packet can lead to the entire packet being discarded. This results in a higher packet error rate for larger payload sizes. Retransmission due to packet errors causes the contention window to double, and this leads to a decrease in throughput if the wireless channel does not improve for the retransmitted packets. Hence, throughput is a function of packet payload length as well as the maximum number of allowable retransmissions. In this paper, we investigate the effect of payload length adaptation and retransmissions on the throughput and capacity of multimedia users. Numerical results and simulations reveal that careful payload adaptation significantly improves the throughput performance at low signal to noise ratios (SNRs). It is also observed tha...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: IWCMC
• Authors: Sayantan Choudhury, Irfan Sheriff, Jerry D. Gibson, Elizabeth M. Belding-Royer
• Keywords: IWCMC 2006, Multimedia Users, Packet Errors, Payload Length