Throughput Analysis of IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function in Presence of Hidden Stations

This paper investigates saturation and finite load throughputs of distributed coordinated function (DCF) as specified IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol in presence of hidden stations. To study throughput of IEEE DCF, we extend Tobagi and Kleinrock’s hidden terminal model [1] and incorporate it into Bianchi’s Markov model of DCF [2]. We use the latter model to derive a general analytical model for DCF that may be used to find throughput under various traffic loads. We show that this model can take hidden stations in static environments into account and provides limited results in dynamic environments where wireless stations may move arbitrarily. The analytical model and throughput results are validated against simulations using direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) physical layer (PHY) and wireless media access layer (MAC). Simulations show that analytical results are valid under the assumed conditions.