Airtime-based resource control in wireless LANs for wireless network virtualization

Wireless network virtualization is needed to build a virtual network over wireless and wired networks, which enables a rapid deployment of novel mobile services or novel mobile network architectures on a shared infrastructure. This paper proposes an airtime-based resource control technique for wireless network virtualization, in which wireless network resources are allocated among competing virtual networks while keeping their programmability. A WLAN system adopting the proposed technique is developed by enhancing an IEEE 802.11e EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) MAC (Media Access Control) mechanism. The operation of the resource control technique is demonstrated by a simulation and the performance of airtime usage and throughput are investigated. It is shown that technique can successfully control the wireless network resource allocations with a target ratio even under conditions when the WLAN system suffers interferences.