A QoS-aware MAC protocol for IEEE 802.11ah-based Internet of Things

Abstract

The IEEE 802.11ah standard has proven to be a scalable solution for medium range networks in Internet of Things (IoT). The Restricted Access Window (RAW)-based channel access mechanism of 802.11ah reduces collisions and improves scalability. However, the RAW mechanism creates congestion in the network having event-driven traffic generated randomly. This paper proposes a Quality of Service (QoS)-aware priority grouping and RAW scheduling algorithm for the 802.11ah-based network. The proposed protocol reduces collisions and ensures required bandwidth for rare but critical event-driven stations. Performance evaluation of the proposed scheme shows significant improvement over 802.11ah-based MAC protocol.