AntMesh: An efficient data forwarding scheme for load balancing in multi-radio infrastructure mesh networks

Load balancing in wireless mesh networks (WMNs) is one of the major design goals for any routing protocol. In this paper, we propose AntMesh, an efficient data forwarding scheme, specifically designed for load balancing in multi-radio infrastructure WMNs. As the foundation of AntMesh, we use Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) in which artificial ants (agents) perform the routing and data forwarding to stochastically solve a dynamic network optimization problem. We extend the ACO framework by implementing two estimation modules, i.e., a link and a path estimation module to effectively utilize the space/channel diversity typically common in multi-radio WMNs. The link estimation module measures the cost of a node´s local links in terms of the packet delay taking into account the queuing delay of a node to realistically capture load. The path estimation module captures inter/intra flow interference by selecting a reduced interference path with increased channel diversity thus resulting in improved load balancing. Simulation studies comparing AntMesh to competing approaches are provided. We demonstrate that under high loads, AntMesh provides increased throughput and decreased end-to-end delay compared to these other approaches.