The Monte Carlo analysis of the media access time distribution in 802.11n MAC layer

Subsequent wireless network standard releases meet better and better the continuously increasing customer requirements in the areas of throughput, coverage and transmission QoS. The network throughput is the key parameter from the user point of view, because the lot of multimedia files are transmitted in such networks. One of the main sources of problems, reducing the transmission quality, is the DCF itself, the basic MAC access method in WLAN. This paper presents the method of analysis of the access to channel in time domain. This method, based on Monte Carlo simulations, allows simulating and presenting the network activity in time domain. The performed simulations show, which components of the MAC scheme absorb most of the time and cause loss of throughput.