IEEE 802.11ax: High-efficiency WLANS

Abstract

IEEE 802.11ax-2019 will replace both IEEE 802.11n-2009 and IEEE 802.11ac-2013 as the next high-throughput Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) amendment. In this paper, we review the expected future WLAN scenarios and use-cases that justify the push for a new PHY/MAC IEEE 802.11 amendment. After that, we overview a set of new technical features that may be included in the IEEE 802.11ax-2019 amendment and describe both their advantages and drawbacks. Finally, we discuss some of the network-level functionalities that are required to fully improve the user experience in next-generation WLANs and note their relation with other on-going IEEE 802.11 amendments.

The TMB path loss model for 5 GHz indoor WiFi scenarios: On the empirical relationship between RSSI, MCS, and spatial streams

“…where P TX and P RX correspond to the transmitted and received power, respectively. Figure 4 shows path loss measured values together with a representation of IEEE 802.11ax path loss models for residential and enterprise scenarios by means of (1) and (2), respectively. Similarity between both models and the actual measured values is noticeable even in the three furthest locations (#15, #16, and #17), where the path loss is less than in closer locations, due to the low number of traversed office walls and the effect of the corridor.…”

“…The IEEE 802.11ax task group (TGax) [1], responsible for the design of the amendment named IEEE 802.11ax-2019, aims to improve PHY and MAC efficiency with modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) ranging from BPSK-1/2 to 1024-QAM-5/6. TGax faces two main challenges: the ability of addressing dense scenarios and satisfying the increase of users' throughput needs [2]. In fact, some of the main targeted use cases are indoors, such as crowded urban scenarios (apartment complexes, condominiums, and multi-dwelling buildings) or enterprise-class scenarios (next generation eclassrooms, colleges, and school campuses) [3].…”

“…Table I compiles the main technical parameters from both scenarios. 2 This space is characterized by a 50 m long transversal corridor with office rooms at both sides from 20 m 2 to 32 m 2 (see Figure 1).…”

A Survey of IEEE 802.11 Protocols: Comparison and Prospective

“…Paper [8] presented 2 possibilities. The first is to move to a centralized solution, but as Hybrid coordination function Controller Channel Access (HCCA) never implemented in 802.11, this solution is very unlikely to realize.…”

Single User MAC Level Throughput Comparision: IEEE 802.11ax vs. IEEE 802.11ac

“…IEEE 802.11ax is a sixth generation of WLAN in the IEEE 802.11 set of WLANs [1] and it is a successor to IEEE O. Sharon, Y. Alpert 802.11ac [3] [4]. IEEE 802.11ax is predicted to have maximum capacity of around 9.5 Gbps in 2.4 and/or 5 GHz and has the goal of providing 4 times the throughput of IEEE 802.11ac [5] [6] [7] [8].…”