A multicast rate adaptation algorithm over IEEE 802.11aa GCR Block Ack scheme

In the last decade, researches on multicast transmission over wireless local area networks have particularly investigated unreliability issue. Indeed, several solutions have been proposed for ensuring reliable multicast transport. Recently, two new amendments the IEEE 802.11v and the IEEE 802.11aa have been introduced. They define new mechanisms at the aim of ensuring a reliable multicast transport service over wireless networks. Likewise, new research fields on multicast transmission are opened up especially with the introduction of the IEEE Gigabit Wireless LAN amendments. In this paper, we tackle the issue of multicast rate adaptation. In Particular, we propose a multicast rate adaptation algorithm compatible with the GCR Block Acknowledgment (GCR-BA) scheme. The proposal takes the advantage of the bitmap provided by the GCR-BA scheme to ensure an efficient deployment of the wide range of modulation schemes proposed by new 802.11 standards. An analytic study is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Simulations, demonstrate that our proposal is highly responsive to channel conditions variations. Indeed, in contrast to the standard fixed rate scheme, it allows to maintain excellent performance in diverse environments.