Implementation of 324Mbps WLAN equipment with MAC frame aggregation for high MAC-SAP throughput

We developed a high speed wireless LAN prototype in the 5GHz band that is backward compatible with legacy IEEE802.11a. The developed WLAN equipment has a data rate of 324Mbit/sec using 6 PHY transmission channels of 802.11a. We propose frame aggregation to improve MAC efficiency. The proposed frame aggregation features an adaptive aggregation size selection depending on wireless channel conditions and application requirements. The optimal frame aggregation size for the PHY data rate is evaluated by using computer simulation. MAC throughput as a function of aggregation size was simulated and measured. We find that high throughput of more than 170Mbit/sec was achieved using the proposed frame aggregation.