Linux-Based Testbed for an Improved IEEE 802.11 Backoff Algorithm

IEEE 802.11 is a popular protocol that defines the functionality of Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical layer (PHY) of wireless add-hoc networks. A number of enhancements to IEEE 802.11 mechanisms, such as the backoff algorithm that is used to control the packets collision aftermath, have been suggested in literature. Such enhancements are evaluated through mathematical modeling and/or simulation. Rarely are such enhancements implemented in full-featured testbeds for testing real-time performance due to implementation complexity. This paper presents a Linux-based Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) that has been set up as a testbed to evaluate a novel backoff algorithm for IEEE 802.11. The performed tests have shown significant improvements in performance, with up to 34.30% improvement in average packet delivery delay compared to the original IEEE 802.11.