Improving Connectivity, Coverage, and Capacity in 60 GHz Indoor WLANs Using Relays

Abstract

60 GHz technology, standardized by IEEE 802.11ad, has emerged as an alternative to 2.4/5 GHz legacy WiFi for building multi-Gigabit general purpose home/enterprise WLANs. However, limited range and high vulnerability to blockage of millimeter-wave (mmWave) links can severely affect WLAN performance. These problems coupled with long re-connection time for a broken link pose a major challenge to the realization of 60 GHz WLANs. In this work, we look at the relay architecture defined in the 802.11ad standard as a solution to these issues and propose extensions to it for achieving gains in both WLAN coverage and capacity.