Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.11 Rate Selection for Industrial Networks

IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs introduced the Multi Rate Support as an effective tool for performance tuning. This feature is implemented by means of specific Rate Adaptation (RA) algorithms, that in general have been designed with the goal of throughput maximization, targeting at general purpose communication networks. Unfortunately, industrial real time communication systems are characterized by very different performance requirements, and hence dedicated, more tailored, RA algorithms have to be devised. The proposed algorithm called Rate Selection for Industrial Networks (RSIN) is a significant step in this direction, being designed from its beginning as an optimization problem, in which the knowledge of the signal to noise ratio is exploited to cope with the industrial traffic requirements. A preliminary assessment has indicated that the performance figures of RSIN are promising. In this paper, we aim at providing a complete characterization of such algorithm, assessing the impact of possible uncertainties in the estimation of the channel status and evaluating the scalability of the proposed strategy from one link to a network. The outcomes of these analyses revealed that RSIN is able to enhance timeliness and reliability of a wireless network in a robust and scalable way, making it suitable for adoption in industrial contexts.