Achieving efficient channel utilization using dynamic coverage control in IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN protocol uses fixed transmission power. It does not consider a power control mechanism based on the distance between the transmitter and the receiver in order to improve overall channel utilization. In the home environment, where stations generally lie around an access point (AP), the AP might use transmission power more than it needs. And, wireless LAN stations may require different minimum desired receiving power. If there are many adjacent BSSs (base service sets) in a densely populated WLAN area, e.g., multiple dwelling homes or hotspots, they might cause RF interference to one another. In this paper, we focus on the improvement of aggregate utilization by mitigating RF interference among BSSs. We show that RF interference can be reduced by controlling transmission power of APs. The reduced interference then leads to an increased aggregate throughput of the system, i.e., efficient resource utilization.