Hybrid routing with periodic mesh updates in wireless mesh networks

A wireless mesh network is an interconnection of 802.11 devices including access point and stations to form a wireless distribution system. A mesh network in essence is an ad hoc network with one or more nodes termed as Mesh Portals that are connected to the backbone. Data transfer within a mesh network is done with the help of routing algorithms.; This thesis proposes a novel routing algorithm called Hybrid Routing with Periodic Mesh Updates (HRPU) for mesh networks. In HRPU, the mesh portal i.e. the node connected to the backbone periodically broadcasts a mesh update message, which allows all the nodes to store a route to the mesh portal "permanently" in their routing table. Whenever a node has data that needs to be sent to the backbone network, then that node begins the data transmission immediately using the stored route to the mesh portal, thus eliminating route establishment delay. HRPU is useful in both static and mobile environments. Periodic update using sequence number ensures that the route maintained is always fresh. HRPU works as a reactive algorithm when data is transmitted within mesh network. AODV protocol is used as a base protocol for implementation and comparison of HRPU.; Simulation results show significant performance improvements in network throughput and routing overhead with HRPU as compared to AODV. In HRPU the mesh portals and mesh points adapt dynamically to changing network conditions to further improve performance.