Routing Stability in Static Wireless Mesh Networks

Considerable research has focused on the design of routing protocols for wireless mesh networks. Yet, little is understood about the stability of routes in such networks. This understanding is important in the design of wireless routing protocols, and in network planning and management. In this paper, we present results from our measurement-based characterization of routing stability in two network deployments, the UCSB MeshNet and the MIT Roofnet. To conduct these case studies, we use detailed link quality information collected over several days from each of these networks. Using this information, we investigate routing stability in terms of route-level characteristics, such as prevalence, persistence and flapping. Our key findings are the following: wireless routes are weakly dominated by a single route; dominant routes are extremely short-lived due to excessive route flapping; and simple stabilization techniques, such as hysteresis thresholds, can provide a significant improvement in route persistence.