WLAN throughput measurement using Iperf

= INTRODUCTION =

This page explains how to do TCP/UDP level throughput measurements for TI’s WLAN driver on platforms like WinMobile, Linux, Android and Symbian.

We use a tool called  iperf  to measure the throughput. Iperf works as a client-server model. Blaze and the PC take one of the either roles based on the path we are measuring (RX or TX).

More information about iperf can be found here http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf.

= TEST SETUP =

List of items required for measuring throughput


 * 1) 	ZOOM2 (or any other development) board
 * 2) 	Wireless Access Point
 * 3) 	Windows PC/Laptop
 * 4) 	Iperf tool for both on PC and Blaze

Test Steps
1) Connect the Windows PC to access point using an Ethernet cable. Connect one end of the cable to PC and the other end to one of the 4 ports labeled Ethernet at the back of the AP.

2) Configure a static IP address for Ethernet interface on PC such that you can ping the AP it is connected to.(ex: if AP has IP 192.168.0.1, give PC address like 192.168.0.100)

3) Iperf tool for PC and Blaze can be got from release for respective programs (L27, etc…)

4) Have the TxBip Calibration on the Blaze platform before the throughput measurement

5) Turn on WiFi on Blaze and connect to the same AP that has PC connected to it.

IPERF arguments
Following are the commonly used command line arguments that we use in our process of throughput measurement,

 -s – Start iperf as server

-c – Start iperf as client. You have to provide the IP address of the server to connect

-u – UDP service (default is TCP)

-t – Time in seconds to transmit traffic

-i – Interval (seconds between reports get printed on screen)

-w – TCP window size (used only for TCP)

-b – bandwidth to send (used only for UDP)