Throughput Maximization Based on Optimized Frame-Aggregation Levels for IEEE 802.11 WLANs

To improve the throughput via frame aggregation (FA), the number of aggregate medium access control service data unit (A-MSDU) and protocol data unit (A-MPDU) subframes must be set appropriately under the IEEE 802.11 standards. In this letter, we construct an optimization problem that maximizes theoretical throughput considering bit error in A-MSDU under the IEEE 802.11ac standard based on the detailed structure of FA. Further, we propose a scheme to determine the optimal subframe sets through an exhaustive search for not only A-MPDU but also A-MSDU. The proposed scheme is validated through numerical calculations and Monte Carlo computer simulations. Although the computational complexity of the proposed scheme is larger than that of the conventional scheme, it leads to a significant throughput improvement.