Establishing high capacity routes in wireless mesh networks

A wireless network consists of two types of nodes, mesh routers and mesh clients. Mesh routers are static multi- radio nodes that form the wireless back-haul. Mesh clients are mobile single-radio nodes that communicate using the wireless back-haul. Routing protocols act as the binding force in these networks by forming a ubiquitous network environment. However, routing across heterogeneous devices encompasses a number of hurdles. One common problem is the lack of capability-aware routing in a highly contented wireless medium. In this paper, we present a variant of the ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol with the aim to exploit node heterogeneity in wireless mesh networks. The protocol endeavours to discover and establish multiple parallel links between adjacent mesh routers. These links are then bundled to create a high capacity virtual link. As demonstrated via extensive simulations, our protocol achieves a more than 100% improvement over standard AODV in terms of key performance metrics such as packet delivery ratio, routing overhead and latency.