A QoS-based indoor wireless data network design for VoIP applications

Multiple factors are contributing to the surge in the demand for wireless LAN (WLAN): laptop penetration, increased user mobility, ubiquitous access to the Internet and intranets, and newly introduced voice over IP (VoIP) capabilities. Today almost all popular wireless LAN applications such as Web access, E-mail processing, telnet, FTP, and database access are using a client-server architecture. However, the number of supported mobile nodes depends on the type of application the user employs. Thus, evaluation of the number of voice users supported by a wireless LAN access point is beginning to attract the attention of those involved in deployment of wireless LAN. Currently, most commercial wireless data networks are arbitrarily installed. The only optimization, if any, is that for the area covered by an access point. However the coverage aspect of the network design is only suitable for the initial installation phases wherein the capacity of users and the channel utilization is low. We investigate QoS parameters necessary to support voice and the implications these parameters have on WLAN design