Optimal packet length for throughput maximisation in mmWave WPANs using directional antennas

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of packet length on the throughput is studied in millimetre-wave band based Wireless Personal Area Networks. A device has a finite queue and uses a directional antenna. A Markov chain model is considered for no-ACK mode in directional carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance under error-prone channel and saturation environments. The features of Medium Access Control of IEEE 802.15.3c such as freezing of backoff counter are considered in the model. The effects of directional antennas and bit error rate are also considered. The throughput and delay including queuing delay are analysed, and the optimal packet length is derived by analysing the throughput. The numerical results show that the longer packets are preferred in the environment that the number of contending devices is small and the beamwidth is narrow. In addition, the optimal packet length maximising throughput is derived, which depends on several parameters such as beamwidth, the number of devices, and the bit error rate. The obtained results provide the criterion in determining the packet length for effective resource utilisation.