Abstract:
Communication in a wireless network is broadcast in
nature and relies purely on the cooperation of all the
nodes. Due to involvement of intermediate nodes,
data transfer and communication between two nodes
can have multiple possible paths amongst them. In
selecting a path, the originator node takes into
account factors like minimum hops, path congestion,
etc. The ultimate goal is to achieve successful packet
delivery at the destination node. i.e. all packets
originated by a node should reach the intended
destination, through some path(s) that results in
conservation of flow in the network. However, in real
world packet loss and session time out are the main
reasons; which make achieving conservation of flow
in wireless mesh networks a hard task. In this study,
authors have highlighted conservation of flow in
terms of successful packet delivery rate in a wireless
mesh network.
1. Introduction:
In a traditional wireless network where laptops
connect to a single access point, each laptop has to
share a fixed pool of bandwidth. With mesh
technology and adaptive radio, devices in a mesh
network will only connect with other devices that are
in a set range. Nodes act as repeaters to transmit data
from nearby nodes to peers that are too far away to
reach, resulting in a network that can span large
distances, especially over rough or difficult terrain.
Mesh networks are also extremely reliable, as each
node is connected to several other nodes. If one node
drops out of the network, due to hardware failure or
any other reason, its neighbors simply find another
route. Extra capacity can be installed by simply
adding more nodes. Mesh networks may involve
either fixed or mobile devices. The solutions are as
diverse as communications in difficult environments
such as emergency situations, tunnels and oil rigs to
battlefield surveillance and high speed mobile video
applications on board public transport or real time
racing car telemetry.
The advantage is that,