An analytical model of A-MSDU scheme with enhanced Block ACK for IEEE 802.11n networks

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) has experienced substantial development both from its usage and its technological advances. The development of WLAN technology is marked by the emergence of IEEE 802.11 standard family which are b, a, g, and n. The newest IEEE 802.11n standard is aimed at improving throughput especially in MAC layer by using frame aggregate mechanism utilizing the A-MSDU and A-MPDU schemes. On the other hand, the compressed Block ACK scheme, which is an extension of the Basic Block ACK scheme in IEEE 802.11e standard, was introduced. In this paper, we propose an analytical model to investigate the throughput performance which is produced by using A-MSDU scheme and Block ACK scheme. The throughput produced by the analytical model is then compared to the throughput produced by the A-MSDU and Block ACK scheme from the NS-3 network simulator. The mathematical simulation and NS-3 simulation results show the same outcome that demonstrates the accuracy of our proposed analytical model. The simulation result has also shown that the usage of A-MSDU and Block ACK scheme simultaneously can increase the throughput in MAC layer of IEEE 802.11n.