Simulation Analysis of Wireless Channel Effect on IEEE 802.11n Physical Layer

IEEE 802.11n standard came as a rescue; the existing standards are increasingly seen as inadequate since applications become more complex and require more bandwidth. Several techniques have been put into operation to meet two basic requirements: significantly greater bit rate and radio coverage. However, studies have shown that the theoretical limit in terms of throughput is far from being reached and that the received power does not explain the performance degradation. A list of suspect parameters is analyzed in this paper to assess their effect on performance of the IEEE 802.11n physical layer taken as an application of MIMO technology in indoor context. It is shown that even if the received power is high, the data rates for a 2x2 MIMO 802.11n can vary between 117 Mbps and 130 Mbps depending on the angular spread values. The antenna spacing can compensate the performance degradation caused by other parameters. Results are given in terms of correlation coefficient, other channel characteristics and the packet error rate.