[Paper Review] Effect of Inter Packet Delay in performance analysis of coexistence heterogeneous Wireless Packet Networks

G. M. Tamilselvan, A. Shanmugam|arXiv (Cornell University)|Apr 5, 2010

Bluetooth and Wireless Communication Technologies7 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel inter-packet delay-based scheme to enhance coexistence between IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN and IEEE 802.11b WLAN in shared ISM bands. Using QualNet 4.5 simulations, the scheme significantly improves performance across various topologies by reducing interference, demonstrating improved throughput and reduced collision rates in heterogeneous wireless packet networks.

ABSTRACT

As the explosive growth of the ISM band usage continues, there are many scenarios where different systems operate in the same place at the same time. One of growing concerns is the coexistence of heterogeneous wireless network systems. For the successful deployment of mission-critical systems such as wireless sensor networks, it is required to provide a solution for the coexistence. In this paper, we propose a new scheme using inter packet delay for the coexistence of IEEE 802.15.4 LRWPAN and IEEE 802.11b WLAN. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, measurement and simulation study are conducted using Qualnet 4.5 simulation software. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme is effective in performance improvement for coexistence network of IEEE 802.15.4 for various topologies.

Motivation & Objective

• To address the growing challenge of coexistence between heterogeneous wireless networks operating in the same ISM band.
• To ensure reliable performance for mission-critical systems like wireless sensor networks in shared spectrum environments.
• To evaluate the impact of inter-packet delay on reducing interference and improving throughput in coexisting IEEE 802.15.4 and 802.11b networks.
• To validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme through simulation across diverse network topologies.

Proposed method

• The proposed scheme introduces controlled inter-packet delays to manage transmission timing between IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11b devices.
• Inter-packet delay is dynamically adjusted to minimize collision probability during concurrent transmissions.
• The scheme leverages the inherent carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) mechanisms of both standards to coordinate access.
• Simulations were conducted using QualNet 4.5 to model various network topologies and traffic conditions.
• Performance metrics such as throughput, delay, and packet loss were measured and compared across scenarios.
• The evaluation includes both measurement-based validation and simulation-based analysis to assess real-world applicability.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does inter-packet delay affect the coexistence performance between IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11b wireless networks?
• RQ2 What is the impact of inter-packet delay on throughput and collision rates in heterogeneous wireless packet networks?
• RQ3 How does the proposed scheme perform across different network topologies and traffic loads?
• RQ4 Can inter-packet delay effectively reduce interference between coexisting IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11b systems?

Key findings

• The proposed inter-packet delay scheme significantly improves throughput in coexistence scenarios between IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11b networks.
• Packet collision rates were reduced due to optimized transmission timing based on inter-packet delay control.
• The scheme demonstrated consistent performance improvements across multiple network topologies, including star, mesh, and ad-hoc configurations.
• Simulation results using QualNet 4.5 confirmed the effectiveness of the scheme in reducing interference and enhancing reliability.
• The performance gain was most notable under high traffic load, where conventional coexistence mechanisms failed to maintain stable throughput.
• The study confirms that inter-packet delay is a viable and effective mechanism for managing coexistence in heterogeneous wireless networks.