Receiver-based packet combining in IEEE 802.11a wireless LAN

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of employing packet combining in 802.1 la wireless LAN (WLAN). Packet combining is well suited for wireless LANs since it provides a diversity gain to the system that can reduce the interference problem and enhance the system performance. Performance results show that a receiver employing packet combining provides significant gains in throughput and reductions in packet error probability when compared to with a receiver that does not employ combining. It is also found that for large packet sizes the gain is greater than for smaller packet sizes, because errors are more likely to occur in the header than in the data.