Design and Implementation of Distributed Resource Management Mechanisms for Wireless Mesh Networks

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel distributed resource management framework for wireless mesh networks that enhances association, handoff, and load balancing through cooperative protocols and cross-layer algorithms, validated via simulations and experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a cooperative association scheme and a cross-layer load balancing mechanism with heuristic algorithms for distributed control in wireless mesh networks.

Findings

Improved association and handoff performance.

Effective load balancing across mesh access points.

Validated benefits through simulations and testbed experiments.

Abstract

In this paper we design and implement a resource management scheme based on cooperative association, where the STAs can share useful information in order to improve the performance of the association/handoff procedures. The cooperative association mechanism is inspired by the rapidly designed cooperative protocols in the field of wireless networks. Furthermore, we introduce a load balancing mechanism that operates in a cross-layer manner taking into account uplink and downlink channel conditions, routing performance and congestion control. The iterative heuristic algorithms that we propose, control the communication load of each mesh AP in a distributed manner. We evaluate the performance of our mechanisms through OPNET simulations and testbed experiments.