Simulation and Performance Analysis of Various IEEE 802.11 Backoff Algorithms

Abstract The Backoff Algorithm is the heart of Medium Access Control(MAC) protocol which determines the system throughput in IEEE802.11 networks. Due to the nature of Wireless medium, stations are not immediately allowed to transmit data as they have data to send. Backoff algorithm has to take an important and crucial decision to correctly predict the precious waiting time for the station before accessing the medium. Hence deigning an effective and efficient Backoff algorithm is required for Wireless Networks. This paper discusses, simulates and analyzes the various Backoff Algorithms and compares the results obtained using NS2 simulator.