Energy efficient techniques for 802.11n multiuser MAC WLANs

In this paper we evaluate the energy efficiency of MIMO technologies introduced in the emerging IEEE 802.11n standard for infrastructure based WLANs. The main focus is on exploiting multiuser capabilities of MIMO technologies, while studying the proper design of multiuser MAC schemes to achieve an energy efficient solution. Three different multiuser MAC schemes are presented and analyzed. Analytical models for energy efficiency are mathematically developed and verified with link-level computer simulations. The results show the feasibility of achieving higher energy efficiency with the proper adjustment of the system parameters, and without significant degradation of throughput performance.