Performance of Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks are emerging as novel networking paradigm capable of supporting application scenarios where quick installation and flexibility are a major requirement. The purpose of this work is to introduce the mesh architecture through wide experimental studies building different type of testbeds. In order to achieve this goal, some performance measurements have been obtained on an experimental WiFi-based mesh testbed. The tests aim at characterizing the suitability of current mesh networking solutions to support multimedia flows. Currently deployed mesh networks use IEEE 802.11 devices for wireless mesh connectivity. However, IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) is not so appropriate for commercial applications of mesh networks since it cannot provide Quality of Service (QoS). This lack of technology drove the development of the IEEE 802.16 standard that defines the physical layer and the MAC sublayer targeted for wireless networking. In this work, after an in-depth overview and discussion on the QoS support provided by WiMAX technology, I reported the results of a set of measurements performed on a WiMAX Alvarion testbed, located in Turin, Italy.