Stochastic approximation algorithm for optimal throughput performance of wireless LANs

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the problem of throughput maximization in an infrastructure based WLAN. We demonstrate that most of the proposed protocols though perform optimally for connected network (no hidden terminals), their performance is worse than even that of standard IEEE 802.11 in presence of hidden terminals. Here we present a stochastic approximation based algorithm that not only provide optimum throughput in a fully connected network but also when hidden nodes are present.