IEEE802.11k Enabled Adaptive Physical Carrier Sense Mechanism for Wireless Networks (K-APCS)

The existence of hidden and exposed nodes can have a significantly negative impact on the performance of IEEE802.11 networks. Such nodes can increase the probability of collisions and limit the spatial reuse on the channel. The value of the Physical Carrier Sensing Threshold (PCST) is instrumental to the trade-off between the number of hidden and exposed nodes in a system. This paper presents a new adaptive physical carrier sensing mechanism for wireless networks. The K-APCS algorithm maximizes the aggregate system throughput by optimizing the balance between the spatial reuse and the collision rate of a system.