End-to-End Delay Assurances in Multihop Wireless Local Area Networks

Emerging Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies support high data rates over relatively short distances. To achieve high data rate communication from larger distances, multihop wireless connections between mobile users and wireless Internet gateways may be necessary. In this paper, we address the challenges in providing a wide range of diverse delay assurances to end-to-end applications in a multihop WLAN. Due to node mobility and distributed medium access, multihop communication experiences substantial delay variations. The paper proposes a delay assurance mechanism based on consistent class-based service differentiation and end-to-end class selection. With simulations, the solution demonstrates remarkable enhancements in delay assurances as compared with the best effort service of IEEE 802.11 in both stationary and mobile scenarios.