Guide To Wireless Mesh Networks

Overview and Goals Wireless communication technologies are undergoing rapid advancements. The last few years have experienced a steep growth in research in the area of wireless mesh networks (WMNs). The attractiveness of WMNs, in general, is attributed to their characteristics such as the ability to dynamically self-organize and self-con?gure, coupled with the ability to maintain mesh connectivity leading, in effect, to low set-up/installation costs, simpler maintenance tasks, and service coverage with high reliability and fault-tolerance. WMNs also support their integration with existing wireless networks such as cellular networks, WLANs, wireless-?delity (Wi-Fi), and worldwide interoperability of microwave access (WiMAX). WMNs have found u- ful applications in a broad range of domains such as broadband home networking, commercial/business networking, and community networking – particularly attr- tive in offering broadband wireless access with low initial installation and set-up costs. Even though WMNs have emerged to be attractive and they hold great promises for our future, there are several challenges that need to be addressed. Some of the wellknownchallenges areattributedtoissuesrelatingtoscalability(signi?cantdrop in throughput with the increase in the number of nodes), multicasting, offering qu- ity of service guarantees, energy ef?ciency, and security. This handbook attempts to provide a comprehensive guide on fundamental key topics coupled with new ideas and results in the areas of WMNs. The book has been prepared keeping in mind that it needs to prove itself to be a valuable resource dealing with both the important core and the specialized issues in WMNs.

Overview and Goals Wireless communication technologies are undergoing rapid advancements. The last few years have experienced a steep growth in research in the area of wireless mesh networks (WMNs). The attractiveness of WMNs, in general, is attributed to their characteristics such as the ability to dynamically self-organize and self-con?gure, coupled with the ability to maintain mesh connectivity leading, in effect, to low set-up/installation costs, simpler maintenance tasks, and service coverage with high reliability and fault-tolerance. WMNs also support their integration with existing wireless networks such as cellular networks, WLANs, wireless-?delity (Wi-Fi), and worldwide interoperability of microwave access (WiMAX). WMNs have found u- ful applications in a broad range of domains such as broadband home networking, commercial/business networking, and community networking – particularly attr- tive in offering broadband wireless access with low initial installation and set-up costs. Even though WMNs have emerged to be attractive and they hold great promises for our future, there are several challenges that need to be addressed. Some of the wellknownchallenges areattributedtoissuesrelatingtoscalability(signi?cantdrop in throughput with the increase in the number of nodes), multicasting, offering qu- ity of service guarantees, energy ef?ciency, and security. This handbook attempts to provide a comprehensive guide on fundamental key topics coupled with new ideas and results in the areas of WMNs. The book has been prepared keeping in mind that it needs to prove itself to be a valuable resource dealing with both the important core and the specialized issues in WMNs.

Overview and Goals Wireless communication technologies are undergoing rapid advancements. The last few years have experienced a steep growth in research in the area of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In WSNs, communication takes place with the help of spatially distributedautonomoussensornodesequippedtosensespeci?cinformation. WSNs, especially the ones that have gained much popularity in the recent years, are, ty- cally, ad hoc in nature and they inherit many characteristics/features of wireless ad hoc networks such as the ability for infrastructure-less setup, minimal or no reliance on network planning, and the ability of the nodes to self-organize and self-con?gure without the involvement of a centralized network manager, router, access point, or a switch. These features help to set up WSNs fast in situations where there is no existing network setup or in times when setting up a ?xed infrastructure network is considered infeasible, for example, in times of emergency or during relief - erations. WSNs ?nd a variety of applications in both the military and the civilian population worldwide such as in cases of enemy intrusion in the battle?eld, object tracking, habitat monitoring, patient monitoring, ?re detection, and so on. Even though sensor networks have emerged to be attractive and they hold great promises for our future, there are several challenges that need to be addressed. Some of the well-known challenges are attributed to issues relating to coverage and deployment, scalability, quality-of-service, size, computational power, energy ef?ciency, and security.

Going beyond classic networking principles and architectures for better wireless performance Written by authors with vast experience in academia and industry, Wireless Mesh Networks provides its readers with a thorough overview and in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art in wireless mesh networking. It offers guidance on how to develop new ideas to advance this technology, and how to support emerging applications and services. The contents of the book follow the TCP/IP protocol stack, starting from the physical layer. Functionalities and existing protocols and algorithms for each protocol layer are covered in depth. The book is written in an accessible textbook style, and contains supporting materials such as problems and exercises to assist learning. Key Features: Presents an in-depth explanation of recent advances and open research issues in wireless mesh networking, and offers concrete and comprehensive material to guide deployment and product development Describes system architectures and applications of wireless mesh networks (WMNs), and discusses the critical factors influencing protocol design Explores theoretical network capacity and the state-of-the-art protocols related to WMNs Surveys standards that have been specified and standard drafts that are being specified for WMNs, in particular the latest standardization results in IEEE 802.11s, 802.15.5, 802.16 mesh mode, and 802.16 relay mode Includes an accompanying website with PPT-slides, further reading, tutorial material, exercises, and solutions Advanced students on networking, computer science, and electrical engineering courses will find Wireless Mesh Networks an essential read. It will also be of interest to wireless networking academics, researchers, and engineers at universities and in industry.

A promising new technology, wireless mesh networks are playing an increasingly important role in the future generations of wireless mobile networks. Characterized by dynamic self-organization, self-configuration, and self-healing to enable quick deployment, easy maintenance, low cost, high scalability, and reliable services, this technology is becoming a vital mode complementary to the infrastructure-based wireless networks. Wireless Mesh Networking: Architectures, Protocols and Standards is the first book to provide engineers, students, faculties, researchers, and designers with a comprehensive technical guide covering introductory concepts. It addresses advanced and open issues in wireless mesh networks and explores various key challenges and diverse scenarios as well as emerging standards such as those for capacity, scalability, extensibility, reliability, and cognition. It focuses on concepts, effective protocols, system integration, performance analysis techniques, simulation, experiments, and future research directions. This volume contains illustrative figures and allows for complete cross-referencing on routing, security, spectrum management, MAC, cross-layer optimization, load-balancing, multimedia communication, MIMO, and smart antenna, etc. It also details information on the particular techniques for efficiently improving the performance of a wireless mesh network. Presenting a solid introduction, Wireless Mesh Networking: Architectures, Protocols and Standards elucidates problems and challenges in designing wireless mesh networks.

A promising new technology, wireless mesh networks are playing an increasingly important role in the future generations of wireless mobile networks. Characterized by dynamic self-organization, self-configuration, and self-healing to enable quick deployment, easy maintenance, low cost, high scalability, and reliable services, this technology is becoming a vital mode complementary to the infrastructure-based wireless networks. Wireless Mesh Networking: Architectures, Protocols and Standards is the first book to provide engineers, students, faculties, researchers, and designers with a comprehensive technical guide covering introductory concepts. It addresses advanced and open issues in wireless mesh networks and explores various key challenges and diverse scenarios as well as emerging standards such as those for capacity, scalability, extensibility, reliability, and cognition. It focuses on concepts, effective protocols, system integration, performance analysis techniques, simulation, experiments, and future research directions. This volume contains illustrative figures and allows for complete cross-referencing on routing, security, spectrum management, MAC, cross-layer optimization, load-balancing, multimedia communication, MIMO, and smart antenna, etc. It also details information on the particular techniques for efficiently improving the performance of a wireless mesh network. Presenting a solid introduction, Wireless Mesh Networking: Architectures, Protocols and Standards elucidates problems and challenges in designing wireless mesh networks.

A Complete Roadmap to Wireless Mesh Network Design Principles and Practices Using WiFi, WiMAX, and ZigBEE! Wireless Mesh Networking provides everything needed to create in-demand wireless mesh networks that provide wireless broadband access over wide areas. This resource presents a complete roadmap to the design and operation of wireless mesh networks, covering basic principles, key standards, and all aspects of network operation-from antenna technologies to software to energy management. This skills-building tool is packed with 100 detailed illustrations. Wireless Mesh Networking features: Expert guidance on integrating WiFi, WiMAX, and ZigBEE into seamless wireless networks The latest methods for ensuring security across the wireless network In-depth coverage of data fusion principles Vital information on SmartMesh networking in SensorNets Autonomic selfware and bio-inspired communication artifacts Inside This One-Stop Guide to Wireless Mesh Networks • Wireless mesh communications paradigms • Wireless mesh network theory and models • Wireless mesh architectures and protocols • Wireless mesh network standards (WiFi, WiMAX, ZigBEE) • Use of advanced antenna technologies • Mechanisms for secure communications • Software and middleware • Wireless sensor networking • Foundations of data fusion, gathering, and processing • Energy management • Autonomic selfware communications • Selfware networking

Wireless mesh networks (WMN) encompass a new area of technology set to play an important role in the next generation wireless mobile networks. WMN is characterized by dynamic self-organization, self-configuration, and self-healing to enable flexible integration, quick deployment, easy maintenance, low costs, high scalability, and reliable services.