New throughput analysis of long-distance IEEE 802.11 wireless communication system for smart grid

The use of wireless access networks, particularly IEEE 802.11 wireless access networks, is an economical method for realizing a communication network between a core information network of a smart grid and a rural area network. This paper presents a novel analysis of the throughput performance of the IEEE 802.11 carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocol with a large propagation delay. The throughput analysis is performed by using a real model. A Markov chain model is used to analyze the throughput performance of the IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA binary exponential backoff algorithm. The results of analysis and computer simulations show that the theoretical throughput is in good agreement with the throughput obtained from computer simulations under the propagation delay less than 20 µs. When the propagation delay is more than 20 µs, the throughput obtained from the simulation results becomes larger than the theoretical throughput because of short-term unfairness. The throughput degradation for a transmission rate of 6 Mb/s and a propagation delay of 40 µs is 16.8 %; this propagation delay corresponds to a transmission distance of 12 km.