Abstract
An overview is given of the new IEEE 802.11n standard. This is the first wireless LAN standard based on MIMO-OFDM, a technique pioneered by Airgo Networks to give a significant performance increase in both range and rate relative to conventional wireless LAN. Performance results show that net user throughputs over 100 Mbps are achievable, which is about four times larger than the maximum achievable throughput using IEEE 802.11a/g. For the same throughput, MIMO-OFDM achieves a range that is about 3 times larger than non-MIMO systems. This significant improvement in range-rate performance makes MIMO-OFDM the ideal solution not only for wireless LAN, but also for home entertainment networks and 4G networks.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. van Nee, G. Awater, M. Morikura, H. Takanashi, M. Webster, and K. Halford, “New High Rate Wireless LAN Standards”, IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 82–88, Dec. 1999.
G.G. Raleigh and J.M. Cioffi, “Spatio-Temporal Coding for Wireless Communications”, Proc. 1996 Global Telecommunications Conf., pp. 1809–1814, Nov. 1996.
G.G. Raleigh and V.K. Jones, “Multivariate Modulation and Coding for Wireless Communication”, IEEE Journal on Sel. Areas in Comm., Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 851–866, May 1999.
R. van Nee, A. van Zelst, and G. Awater, “Maximum Likelihood Decoding in a Space Division Multiplexing System”, IEEE VTC 2000, Tokyo, Japan, May 2000.
IEEE 802.11 Working Group, IEEE P802.11n/D1.0 Draft Amendment to Standard for Information Technology-Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems-Local and Metropolitan Networks-Specific Requirements-Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications: Enhancements for Higher Throughput, March 2006.
A. Stephens, “802.11n Functional Requirements”, IEEE Document 802.11-02/813r12, March 2004.
R. van Nee and R. Prasad, OFDM for Mobile Multimedia Communications, Boston: Artech House, Dec. 1999.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Richard van Nee received the M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Twente University in Enschede, the Netherlands, in 1990. In May 1995, he received the PhD degree from Delft University of Technology. From 1995 to 2000, he worked for Lucent Technologies Bell Labs on wireless LAN transmission techniques. He was one of the original proposers of the CCK and OFDM modulation techniques which were adopted by the IEEE 802.11b and IEEE802.11a wireless LAN standards. In 2001, he cofounded Airgo Networks that developed the first MIMO-OFDM modem for wireless LAN and which techniques form the basis of the IEEE 802.11n standard. Together with Ramjee Prasad, he wrote a book on OFDM, entitled ‘OFDM for Mobile Multimedia Communications.’ In 2002 he received the Dutch Veder award for his contributions to standardization of wireless communications.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Nee, R., Jones, V.K., Awater, G. et al. The 802.11n MIMO-OFDM Standard for Wireless LAN and Beyond. Wireless Pers Commun 37, 445–453 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-006-9073-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-006-9073-2