Investigations on mac layer performance of millimeter wave wireless lan and pan standards

Abstract

IEEE 802.11ad Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), also referred to as Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) networks, operate in the globally unlicensed 60GHz frequency band and offers channel bandwidths nearly 100x as wide as IEEE 802.11n. The higher bandwidth facilitates multi-Gbps throughput even with the use of lower complexity modulation coding schemes (MCS). IEEE 802.11ad relies heavily on rate adaptation and high beamforming gain to mitigate interference and fading, as signals in the 60GHz band suffer from higher atmospheric absorption and free space path loss. IEEE 802.15.3c standard specifies protocol enhancements for Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) operation in the 60GHz band. Both these standards have introduced novel features concerning the physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer protocols. IEEE 802.11ad defines a Personal Basic Service Set (PBSS) which is formed by the directional multi-Gbps stations, (i.e., DMG-STAs), where one of the STAs assumes the role of PBSS central point (PCP)/access point (AP) (i.e., PCP/AP) to coordinate the channel access among the STAs. The medium access time is divided into Beacon Intervals (BIs), which consist of a Beacon Header Interval (BHI) and a Data Transmission Interval (DTI). The DTI comprises of contention based access periods (CBAPs) and contention-free service periods (SPs).