Queuing Analysis of Power Management in the IEEE 802.11 Based Wireless LANs

Energy efficiency is an important aspect in wireless networks and power management is a technique that can save energy. We investigate the power management in the IEEE 802.11 based infrastructure mode wireless LANs and seek the optimal power management parameters that can achieve good energy efficiency without degrading other performances. We propose two models for the power management scheme: the M/G/1 queue with bulk service model and the D/G/1 queue model. From the models, we obtain the analytical results for the energy efficiency and the response time performance metrics, which are controlled by a listen interval. Our simulation results are in good agreement with the analysis. Based on the analytical models and simulation, we propose to select the largest listen interval with the satisfaction of response time requirement. The analytical models can be used to predict system performance if system configurations are given. This can help system deployment and system optimization.