rfq_2002
06-30-2004, 06:45 PM
Hi,
Does anybody out there have an idea about how 802.11e will be
implemented?
Is it going to be part of the MAC functionality or it will be part of the driver that runs on top of the MAC?
Is 802.11e used for QOS only or it can be used for speed boost?
if yes then how does it work. Any ideas on this?
Regards.
802.11e includes two main additions to the current spec. The first is called EDCA (extended distributed channel access), which basically adds priority to the current DCF-based channel access. The second part is called HCCA (HCF controlled channel access), which, while appears to be similar to the PCF-based mechanism, is really a lot more complicated.
The entire 802.11e implementation requires a lot changes to the hardware as well as the driver. However, since it is not required to do both to claim the "802.11e" tag, most of the first-wave 802.11e chips/products will only implement the EDCA, which, in my opinion, only improves the QoS marginally. To achieve better "guranteed bandwidth and/or response time", it really needs HCCA. But, it will probably be a while before we see any HCCA-enabled product on the market.
On your 2nd question, depending on how you look at it, QoS (HCCA in particular) is supposed to reduce the expected "junk time" that is wasted by the current spec. So, in a way, more bandwidth is available for useful data transfer with QoS, which implies some speed boost. But, directly to your question, the answer is no.
-CJP