What's wrong with Wi-Fi? by Dave Täht

Talk given at MIT CSAIL, Feb. 14, 2013. Slides available at mirrors.bufferbloat.net/Talks/...
Abstract: Many Wi-Fi networks around the world are in a state of collapse under load. How Wi-Fi actually works is not well understood, and in particular, the rate selection algorithm widely used in Linux and Linux based gateways, Minstrel, has never been publicly described effectively. The paper on it remains unpublished.
This talk covers bufferbloat in Wi-Fi, the Minstrel algorithm, and current and future work by the Bufferbloat effort for making Wi-Fi networks more robust and lower latency.
Bio: Dave Täht is the co-founder of the Bufferbloat Project. He is also architect of the CeroWrt reference router project, which is exploring solutions to the bufferbloat, Wi-Fi and IPv6 problems on consumer hardware. He is the original implementor of the CoDel algorithm in Linux, as well as maintainer of the ns2 and ns3 models of codel, and fq_codel. He has developed nfq_codel and has multiple upcoming enhancements and derivatives, under test. To enhance testing of bufferbloat related fixes, is also working on standardizing a "Realtime Response under Load" (RRUL) test suite.
Prior to tackling bufferbloat, he worked on wireless mesh networking, spacecraft, VOIP, and embedded Linux, most notably as "Member, Visionary staff" for MontaVista Software. He has been working on Unix-derived systems for 34 years.
He is the CTO of Teklibre, LLC, and associated with the LINCS lab in Paris and the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC). His present research is sponsored through the Comcast Technology Research Fund.