Wireless Mesh Networks

Modeling is typically done by connectivity and interference graphs, though this has limitations, and cannot easily capture many effects, including the broadcast nature of the MAC and intermittent connectivity. Capacity is currently calculated in various ways, including the Gupta and Kumar theoretical capacity analysis, the clique model, and the collision domain models. We will focus on the latter two, as they are the most practical at given a rule-of-thumb estimate of network capacity. We will also discuss routing protocols and metrics, as the actual capacity is often deeply related to these choices. After this portion of the tutorial, attendees should be able to model a WMN and estimate its carrying capacity. Also, they will be familiar with the major routing protocols and metrics used in WMN.