Performance analysis of packet errors on IEEE 802.11-based DCF and EDCF

The effect of packet size differences, that has not been taken into account in existing papers on the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordinated function (DCF) and 802.11e enhanced distributed coordinated function (EDCF), has been investigated, and improved throughput equations that lead to accurate performance representation in erroneous wireless channels are provided. Wi-Fi devices that use the DCF and the EDCF reduce the risk of data packet transmission failure using request to send (RTS) and clear to send (CTS) packets by removing the hidden node problem. However, as the bit error rate (BER) increases (especially near the signal coverage edge of the other communicating device), even though RTS/CTS packets may succeed in communication, data packets may fail due to packet errors based on their larger packet sizes. This phenomenon is confirmed through actual measurements and mathematical performance analysis is carried out to accurately express the performance of 802.11-based communications in erroneous conditions.