A framework for route configurability in power-constrained wireless mesh networks

Abstract

QoS support for power-constrained wireless mesh networks (WMNs) poses a significant challenge. WMNs are increasingly used as multi-purpose networks, i.e., they serve multiple objectives and different applications simultaneously. As a consequence, a one-size-fits-all routing solution is difficult to achieve, particularly when the performance and QoS expectations of these applications differ. This work proposes Configurable Mesh Routing (CMR), a toolkit that supports the discovery and management of routes based on any combination of a number of supported QoS metrics. This enables network users to deploy customized routes that meet their unique needs. Our experiment demonstrates how CMR is able to balance the network-wide goal of energy efficiency and application-specific QoS requirements.