Radio Resource Measurement is a key enabler to the next generation of Wireless LANs (WLANs). Radio
Resource Measurement addresses some of the existing issues in using unlicensed radio environments to
meet the requirements of emerging technologies. In addition, Radio Resource Measurement provides
knowledge about the radio environment to improve performance and reliability.
The existing WLAN measurements and information about them are inadequate to move ahead to the next
generation of WLAN. The proposed Radio Resource Measurement approach is to add measurements that
extend the capability, reliability, and maintainability of WLANs through measurements and provide that
information to upper layers in the communications stack. In addition, there are new applications that require
quantifiable radio environment measurements in order to attain the necessary performance. These
applications include voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video over IP, location based applications, as well
as applications requiring mitigation of harsh radio environments (multifamily dwellings, airplanes, factories,
municipalities, etc.).
WLAN Radio Resource Measurement addresses the MAC, the SME, the MLME primitives, the MIB, and
the interface to upper layers. The Radio Resource Measurement scope is to define Radio Measurements and
to provide mechanisms to higher layers for radio and network measurements. This amendment provides
these mechanisms using request/response queries and an Object Identifier (OID) interface to upper layers in
the MIB.
