Simulation Analysis of Wireless Channel Effect on IEEE 802.11n Physical Layer

Abstract

International audienceIEEE 802.11n standard came as a rescue; the existing standards are increasingly seen as inadequate since applications become more complex and require more bandwidth. Several techniques have been put into operation to meet two basic requirements: significantly greater bit rate and radio coverage. However, studies have shown that the theoretical limit in terms of throughput is far from being reached and that the received power does not explain the performance degradation. A list of suspect parameters is analyzed in this paper to assess their effect on performance of the IEEE 802.11n physical layer taken as an application of MIMO technology in indoor context. It is shown that for values of angular spread below 27°, the data rate cannot exceed 117 Mbps and the antennas spacing can compensate the performance degradation caused by other parameters. Results are given in terms of correlation coefficient, other channel characteristics and the packet error rate