Analysis of IEEE802.11 DCF Parameters on Achievable Throughput in Ad Hoc Networks

It is well-known that the values of IEEE 802.11 MAC parameters directly affect the utilization of the channel capacity and link layer throughput as well as higher layers performance. This paper first studies the throughput of ad hoc network under various 802.11 MAC parameters by developing a 3-dimensional Markov chain. Based on this model, it is mathematically proved that the current values of 802.11 parameters result in dramatic throughput degradation. Then, the optimum values of 802.11 parameters that lead to maximum 802.11 MAC throughput will be proposed.