Infrastructure dependent wireless multicast - the effect of spatial diversity and error correction

Abstract

The use of multiple Access Points (APs) with one AP placed at the middle of a coverage area and the remaining placed at the edge may reduce the Packet Error Rate (PER) experienced by a group of multicast receivers. This paper shows that Spatial Diversity can augment the channel quality experienced especially by those nodes which are located farther from the Master AP, i.e. the AP at the middle, however this study also demonstrates the need for error correction scheme. The aim of this analysis is to propose a means of enhancing the infrastructure end of an IEEE 802.11n Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), such that multicast data can be delivered reliably in order to guarantee that the received video has an adequate Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), but with the constraint that the Medium Access Control (MAC) and the Physical (PHY) layer of the receivers are not modified, hence a legacy IEEE 802.11n node may join the multicast group and experience good Quality of Service.