Interworking wireless mesh networks: Problems, performance characterization, and perspectives

Wireless broadband networks based on the IEEE 802.11 technology are being increasingly deployed as mesh networks to provide users with extended coverage for wireless Internet access. These wireless mesh networks, however, may be deployed by different authorities without any coordination a priori, and hence it is possible that they overlap partially or even entirely in service area, resulting in contention of radio resources among them. In this paper, we investigate the artifacts that result from the uncoordinated deployment of wireless mesh networks. We use a network optimization approach to model the problem as resource sharing among nodes belonging to one or different networks. Based on the proposed LP formulation, we then conduct simulations to characterize the performance of overlaying wireless mesh networks, with the goal to provide perspectives for addressing the problems. We find that in a system with multiple overlaying wireless mesh networks, if no form of inter-domain coordination is present, individual mesh networks could suffer from capacity degradation due to increased network contention. One solution toward addressing the performance degradation is to ''interwork'' these wireless mesh networks by allowing inter-domain traffic relay through provisioning of ''bridge'' nodes. However, if such bridge nodes are chosen arbitrarily, the problems of throughput sub-optimality and unfairness may arise. We profile the impact of bridge node selection and show the importance in controlling network unfairness for wireless mesh network interworking. We conclude that mesh network interworking is a promising direction to address the artifacts due to uncoordinated deployment of wireless mesh networks if it is supplemented with appropriate mechanisms.

[1]  Haiyun Luo,et al.  Flow Scheduling for End-Host Multihoming , 2006, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2006. 25TH IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.

[2]  Srinivasan Seshan,et al.  Self-management in chaotic wireless deployments , 2005, MobiCom '05.

[3]  Randeep Bhatia,et al.  Joint Channel Assignment and Routing for Throughput Optimization in Multiradio Wireless Mesh Networks , 2006, IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun..

[4]  Robert Tappan Morris,et al.  Architecture and evaluation of an unplanned 802.11b mesh network , 2005, MobiCom '05.

[5]  Jitendra Padhye,et al.  Routing in multi-radio, multi-hop wireless mesh networks , 2004, MobiCom '04.

[6]  J. T. Robinson,et al.  Experimenting with a multi-radio mesh networking testbed , 2005 .

[7]  Nitin H. Vaidya,et al.  Capacity of multi-channel wireless networks: impact of number of channels and interfaces , 2005, MobiCom '05.

[8]  Sumit Roy,et al.  Optimization models for fixed channel assignment in wireless mesh networks with multiple radios , 2005, 2005 Second Annual IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks, 2005. IEEE SECON 2005..

[9]  Hari Balakrishnan,et al.  A measurement study of vehicular internet access using in situ Wi-Fi networks , 2006, MobiCom '06.

[10]  Murali S. Kodialam,et al.  Characterizing the capacity region in multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks , 2005, MobiCom '05.

[11]  Jian Tang,et al.  Maximum Throughput and Fair Bandwidth Allocation in Multi-Channel Wireless Mesh Networks , 2006, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2006. 25TH IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.

[12]  Panganamala Ramana Kumar,et al.  RHEINISCH-WESTFÄLISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE AACHEN , 2001 .

[13]  Lili Qiu,et al.  Impact of Interference on Multi-Hop Wireless Network Performance , 2003, MobiCom '03.