Accurate Measurement and Visualization of Traffic Load in IEEE 802.11 WLANs

Abstract

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) based on the IEEE 802.11 standard are getting very popular these days, due to their support for new multimedia services and VoIP, and because WLANs are appearing on more and more small devices. This causes a steadily increasing load and becomes a challenge to network administrators who want to make their WLANs run efficiently and to keep the users satisfied. This Master thesis addresses the lack of efficient and affordable monitoring tools for those running WLANs, by developing an accurate method and for the visualization of traffic patterns and bandwidth utilization. We have developed the Wlan Traffic Visualizer, which, based on captured log files or through live capture, gives a clear presentation of the traffic patterns and load situation of a WLAN, as well as the bandwidth utilization and potential extra throughput. We have implemented new methods for accurate free bandwidth estimation, and through a series of testing activities, our implementation has been verified in comparison with the standards and other references. As an additional outcome, the Wlan Traffic Visualizer has proved to be useful for other purposes. Its detailed presentation of packet sequences and timing can be used for WLAN protocol illustration, as well as for the observation of WLAN equipment behaviour and for equipment benchmarking