Reliable Low-Latency Wi-Fi Mesh Networks

We propose reliability and latency quantities as metrics to be used in the routing tree optimization procedure for Wi-Fi mesh networks. In contrast to state-of-the-art routing optimization methods, our proposal involves directly optimizing the data rates of individual mesh links according to underlying channel conditions such that reliability and latency requirements are satisfied for entire mesh paths. Moreover, to mitigate the channel contention problem that is common in Wi-Fi networks, we propose a multichannel (MC) assignment method. In this method, bandwidth is allocated to the individual mesh nodes based on the expected traffic load that they are expected to handle. Once the bandwidth for each node is determined, specific channels are assigned in a way to avoid co-channel interference. Furthermore, considerable efforts were spent for developing a system-level simulator that captures the features of the physical (PHY) layer and medium access layer defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard (Wi-Fi). Using this simulator, we were able to show that Wi-Fi mesh networks using the proposed routing metric based on reliability and latency quantities significantly outperform the state of the art. Finally, the mitigation of channel contention through the proposed MC assignment method results in further dramatic gains in performance.