WDS-based layer 2 routing for wireless mesh networks

Abstract

An increasing number of people today depend on the ability to connect to wireless network access points in a variety of situations. While one-hop access points were a suitable solution in the beginning, they suffered from problems such as low coverage area and over-load. One promising solution is the use of wireless mesh networks (WMNs). This allows wireless access points to be placed in a very flexible fashion, so that they can extend wireless coverage into places that do not have easily accessible wired infrastructure. There are existing projects that examine some methods for deploying mesh access networks. For example, the MIT Roofnet project [1] has created a system that can easily add new access points at random, and incorporate them into a large scale mesh. However, we are more interested in a planned mesh network. In such a network, concepts like quality of service will be important, so a robust admission control scheme is necessary. This poster will present a foundational centralized routemanagement system for WMNs. Our scheme is based on the Wireless Distribution System (WDS). Our work has been an extension of the existing implementation of WDS in the MADWiFi driver for Atheros wireless LAN chipsets. We are interested in provisioning quality of service guarantees for planned WMNs being used as access networks, as well as providing fault tolerance. Very few admission control schemes have been proposed so far for WMNs, and most apply to the case of unplanned WMNs, using routing protocols developed for ad hoc networks. Planned WMNs are witnessing an increasing number of deployments across enterprises, universities and cities. These networks will require an effi-