System and method for adjusting media access control parameters in a wireless network

A method for selecting a plurality of operating parameters for a node in a wireless local area network (WLAN) comprising:

• deriving a local analytical model of the WLAN based on media access control (MAC) parameters and wireless signal traffic characteristics;
• acquiring local measurements of a portion of the MAC parameters at the node;
• determining an achieved quality of service (QoS) for the node by applying the acquired local measurements of the portion of the MAC parameters to the local analytical model;
• and
• performing an adaptive optimization of the local analytical model using gradient based optimization;
• and
• iteratively modifying at least one of the MAC parameters of the node based on the adaptive optimization till a QoS threshold for the node is met, wherein the QoS threshold for the node comprises at least one of a minimum signal throughput level and a maximum signal time delay.

A controller for a hospital network node, wherein the controller comprises at least one processor configured to carry out programmable instructions executing the steps to:

• set a quality of service (QoS) requirement for a wireless signal transmission from the hospital network node, the wireless signal transmission being governed by a plurality of media access control (MAC) parameters;
• generate a model of a hospital network that is based on the plurality of MAC parameters and on signal traffic characteristics of the wireless signal transmission;
• receive measurements of MAC layer acknowledgements and signal retransmissions from the hospital network node;
• insert the received MAC layer acknowledgements and signal retransmissions from the WLAN node into the generated model of the hospital network;
• perform an adaptive optimization of the generated model using gradient-descent optimization upon insertion of the received MAC layer acknowledgements and signal retransmissions to determine a desired value for at least one of the plurality of MAC parameters that satisfies the QoS requirement for the wireless signal transmission by the hospital network node;
• and
• modify the at least one of the plurality of MAC parameters based on the adaptive optimization to the desired value till the QoS requirement for the wireless signal transmission by the hospital network node is met, wherein the QoS requirement comprises at least one of a minimum signal throughput level and a maximum signal time delay.