Wireless mesh network

About: Wireless mesh network is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13600 publications have been published within this topic receiving 221035 citations. The topic is also known as: WMN.

Routing, scheduling and channel assignment in Wireless Mesh Networks: Optimization models and algorithms

Abstract: Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) can partially replace the wired backbone of traditional wireless access networks and, similarly, they require to carefully plan radio resource assignment in order to provide the same quality guarantees to traffic flows. In this paper we study the radio resource assignment optimization problem in Wireless Mesh Networks assuming a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme, a dynamic power control able to vary emitted power slot-by-slot, and a rate adaptation mechanism that sets transmission rates according to the signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR). The proposed optimization framework includes routing, scheduling and channel assignment. Quality requirements of traffic demands are expressed in terms of minimum bandwidth and modeled with constraints defining the number of information units (packets) that must be delivered per frame. We consider an alternative problem formulation where decision variables represent compatible sets of links active in the same slot and channel, called configurations. We propose a two phases solution approach where a set of configurations is first selected to meet traffic requirements along the best available paths, and then configurations are assigned to channels according to device characteristics and constraints. The optimization goal is to minimize the number of used slots, which is directly related to the global resource allocation efficiency. We provide a lower bound of the optimal solution solving the continuous relaxation of problem formulation. Moreover, we propose a heuristic approach to determine practical integer solutions (upper bound). Since configuration variables are exponentially many, our solution approaches are based on the column generation technique. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms we show the numerical results obtained on a set of realistic-size randomly generated instances.

Routing protocols in wireless mesh networks: challenges and design considerations

Abstract: Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are an emerging technology that could revolutionize the way wireless network access is provided. The interconnection of access points using wireless links exhibits great potential in addressing the "last mile" connectivity issue. To realize this vision, it is imperative to provide efficient resource management. Resource management encompasses a number of different issues, including routing. Although a profusion of routing mechanisms has been proposed for other wireless networks, the unique characteristics of WMNs (e.g., wireless backbone) suggest that WMNs demand a specific solution. To have a clear and precise focus on future research in WMN routing, the characteristics of WMNs that have a strong impact on routing must be identified. Then a set of criteria is defined against which the existing routing protocols from ad hoc, sensor, and WMNs can be evaluated and performance metrics identified. This will serve as the basis for deriving the key design features for routing in wireless mesh networks. Thus, this paper will help to guide and refocus future works in this area.

Techniques for ad-hoc mesh networking

Abstract: A wireless communications device includes a first radio and a second radio. The first radio is receives information regarding an ad-hoc mesh wireless network from at least one remote device. The second radio exchanges user data with the ad-hoc wireless mesh network. The wireless communications device also includes a buffer and a scheduler. The buffer stores user data for transmission to one or more remote devices in the ad-hoc wireless mesh network. The scheduler schedules transmissions by the second radio of the user data based on the received information. The first and second radios may employ various communications technologies. Examples of such technologies include Bluetooth, wireless local area network (WLAN), and ultra wideband (UWB). The information received from the remote device may include one or more of the following: configuration information (e.g., topology information) corresponding to the ad-hoc wireless mesh network; routing information; and information regarding communications capabilities of one or more nodes within the ad-hoc wireless mesh network.

A case for heterogeneous on-chip interconnects for CMPs

Abstract: Network-on-chip (NoC) has become a critical shared resource in the emerging Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) era. Most prior NoC designs have used the same type of router across the entire network. While this homogeneous network design eases the burden on a network designer, partitioning the resources equally among all routers across the network does not lead to optimal resource usage, and hence, affects the performance-power envelope. In this work, we propose to apportion the resources in an NoC to leverage the non-uniformity in network resource demand. Our proposal includes partitioning the network resources, specifically buffers and links, in an optimal manner. This approach results in redistributing resources such that routers that require more resources are allocated more buffers and wider links compared to routers demanding fewer resources. This results in a novel heterogeneous network, called HeteroNoC, which is composed of two types of routers -- small power efficient routers, and big high performance routers. We evaluate a number of heterogeneous network configurations, composed of big and small routers, and show that giving more resources to routers along the diagonals in a mesh network provides maximum benefits in terms of performance and power. We also show the potential benefits of the HeteroNoC design by co-evaluating it with memory-controllers and configuring it with an asymmetric CMP consisting of heterogeneous cores.

Nodes organization for channel assignment with topology preservation in multi-radio wireless mesh networks

Abstract: The wireless mesh network is a new emerging broadband technology providing the last-mile Internet access for mobile users by exploiting the advantage of multiple radios and multiple channels. The throughput improvement of the network relies heavily on the utilizing the orthogonal channels. However, an improper channel assignment scheme may lead to network partition or links failure. In this paper we consider the assignment strategy with topology preservation by organizing the mesh nodes with available channels, and aim at minimizing the co-channel interference in the network. The channel assignment with the topology preservation is proved to be NP-hard and to find the optimized solution in polynomial time is impossible. We have formulated a channel assignment algorithm named as DPSO-CA which is based on the discrete particle swarm optimization and can be used to find the approximate optimized solution. We have shown that our algorithm can be easily extended to the case with uneven traffic load in the network. The impact of radio utilization during the channel assignment process is discussed too. Extensive simulation results have demonstrated that our algorithm has good performance in both dense and sparse networks compared with related works.