Performance Evaluation of 802.11ax OFDMA Through Theoretical Analysis and Simulations

With the introduction of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in 802.11ax, the role of the Access Point (AP) in Wi-Fi networks changes significantly, thanks to the opportunity of implementing more complex scheduling logic to handle Downlink (DL) traffic flows and simultaneously act as coordinator of Multi User (MU) Uplink (UL) transmissions. In this context, it becomes necessary to develop reliable network analysis and simulation tools that allow for an in-depth investigation of the trade-offs involved in the usage of OFDMA, especially considering that the standard leaves much of the actual scheduling algorithmic details to vendor-specific implementation. In this work we present a series of results highlighting how several network settings have an impact on throughput and Head-of-Line Delay, in a network that employs multiple 802.11ax features such as OFDMA and the MU Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) Parameter Set, while also containing legacy devices. The results are obtained via both the newly re-designed ns-3 wifi module and an original analytical framework, based on the well-established Bianchi 802.11 model.