Utility Max-Min Fair Link Adaptation in IEEE 802.11ac Downlink Multi-User

Abstract

In this letter, we propose a novel model and corresponding algorithms to address the optimal utility max-min fair link adaptation in Downlink Multi-User (DL-MU) feature of the emerging IEEE 802.11ac WLAN standard. Herein, we first propose a simple yet accurate model to formulate the max-min fair link adaptation problem. Furthermore, this model guarantees the minimum utility gain of each receiver according to its requirements. In the second step, we show that the optimal solution of the proposed model can be obtained in polynomial time, and then the solution algorithms are proposed and analyzed. The simulation results demonstrate the significant achievement of the proposed utility-aware link adaptation approach in terms of max-min fairness and utility gain compared to utility-oblivious schemes.