Characterization of the impact of network topology on the performance of single-radio wireless mesh networks

Abstract

Stub Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are used to extend Internet access. The use of multiple channels improves the capacity of WMN but significant challenges arise when nodes are limited to a single-radio interface to form the WMN. In particular, the assignment of mesh nodes to channels results on the creation of multiple sub-networks, one per channel, where individual capacity may depend on the sub-network topologies This paper identifies the relevant topological characteristics of the sub-networks resultant from the channel assignment process and studies, through simulation, the impact and relative importance of those characteristics on the maximal throughput enabled by the stub WMN. The number of nodes in the gateways neighborhood and the hidden node problem in the gateways neighborhood were identified as the characteristics having the highest impact on the WMN throughput.