Throughput analysis of IEEE802.11n using OPNET

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the throughput performance of IEEE802.11n WLANs using a well-known commercial simulator called OPNET Modeler. We study the effects of IP packet size, Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), Channel Bonding, number of MIMO spatial streams, Block Acknowledgement (BA) and Type of Service (ToS)/Access Category (AC) on maximum throughput and Throughput Efficiency (TE). The impact of multiple users' access on TE is also analyzed. From these studies we offer fresh insights on underlying configurations and operating conditions which affect the peak throughput performance and efficiency of IEEE802.11n system.