On the Achievable Throughput of Multi-Band Multi-Antenna Wireless Mesh Networks

Recent technological advances have enabled SDRs to switch from one frequency to another at low cost, thus making dynamic multi-band access possible. On the other hand, recent advances in signal processing combined with those in antenna technology provide MIMO capabilities, thereby creating opportunities for enhancing the throughput of wireless networks. Both SDRs and MIMO together enable next-generation wireless networks, such as wireless mesh networks, to support dynamic and adaptive bandwidth sharing along time, frequency, and space. In this paper, we develop a new framework that identifies the limits and potentials of SDRs and MIMO. We characterize and analyze the maximum throughput that wireless networks can achieve when they are SDR-capable and MIMO-equipped.