Association Games in IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks

In IEEE 802.11 wireless networks, users associate with access points that can provide the best service quality. In this paper, we analyze the convergence and steady state performance of a practically well performing load-based user association scheme. The analysis is based on a novel game theoretical model, which extends the results on atomic congestion games. We prove the existence of and convergence to a Nash equilibrium for this game. The bounds on the efficiency of equilibrium compared to centralized optimum solutions are established under different system costs.