Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.11 DCF under Limited Load

The goal of effective distributed network control is that each wireless node operates near its maximum capacity, with bounded queue delay. This “optimum” operating point, where maximum throughput is achieved, is usually located well below the saturation point. The choice of optimum operating point requires knowledge of MAC performance below saturation, hence a limited load model of MAC operation needs to be studied for useful insights. In this paper, we extend the analytical model of IEEE 802.11 DCF from [2] to study throughput performance under limited load, where the node’s transmit queue may be at times empty.