802.11e WMM

What is 802.11e WMM?

802.11e wireless standard uses Enhanced Distribution Coordination Function (EDCF) to categorize traffic. It provides basic Quality of Service (QoS) functionality for Wireless networks.

The WiFi Multimedia (WMM) specification is a subset of 802.11e. It stipulates traffic with different fixed and random wait times in the four prioritization categories (voice, video, best effort, and background). This is done to ensure that applications, which are less tolerant of packet delays, have a higher priority of network access. The result of this being that devices that can't afford a higher wait time have a better chance to transmit than those that can.

802.11e traffic classes and access categories:

802.11e Traffic Class	Access Category	Description
NC	AC_VO	Voice
VO (Platinum)
VI (Gold)	AC_VI	Video
CL
EE (Silver)	AC_BE	Best Effor
BE
NC	AC_VO	Voice
VO (Platinum)