Performance analysis of 802.11 DCF parameters which support QoS in emergency scenarios

Abstract

In case of an emergency, first responders need to establish a communication network at the area of incidence. To support upcoming multimedia services for emergency personnel, a communication technology which provides high data rates is required. At presence the most common wireless communication technology is IEEE 802.11, which provides sufficient data rates for emergency communication. Due to the popularity of IEEE 802.11 networks, existing networks at the incident scene cause harsh conditions for wireless communications. For first respon-ders, a reliable communication infrastructure is crucial. Hence the applied communication technology must provide Quality of Service (QoS). Existing QoS mechanisms, like IEEE 802.11e are designed for multimedia applications. In this paper, we present a new set of parameters for the DCF to support QoS in emergency scenarios. We propose six novel priority classes for heterogeneous types of emergency communication. All types of emergency communication are prioritized over legacy IEEE 802.11 communication. The performance of the new parameter set is analyzed through an analytical model based on Markov chains and is validated through simulations. The results lead to the conclusion that our proposed parameter set provides a reliable communication network for emergency scenarios, even with existing interference networks.