Theoretical maximum throughput of IEEE 802.11 and its applications

The goal of this paper is to present exact formulae for the throughput of IEEE 802.11 networks in the absence of transmission errors and for various physical layers, data rates and packet sizes. Calculation of the throughput is more than a simple exercise. It is a mandatory part of provisioning any system based on 802.11 technology (whether in ad-hoc or infrastructure mode). We will discuss the practical importance of theoretical maximum throughput and present several applications.