A study on the effect of mutation in genetic algorithms for mesh router placement in wireless mesh networks

With the emergence of wireless networking paradigm, several optimization problems are appearing. Such problem are related to optimizing network connectivity, coverage and stability. The resolution of these problems turns out to be crucial for optimized network performance. In the case of Wireless Mesh Networks, such problems include computing placement of mesh router nodes so that network performance is optimized. However, as these optimization problems are known to be computationally hard to solve, Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been recently investigated as effective resolution methods. Mutation operator is one of the GA ingredients. Unlike crossover operators, which achieve to transmit genetic information from parents to offsprings, mutation operators usually make some small local perturbation of the individuals, having thus less impact on individuals. Moreover, crossover is "a must" operator in GA and is usually applied with high probability, while mutation operators when implemented, are applied with small probability. Due to this, mutation operator is usually considered as a secondary operator. However, many studies in the literature have shown that mutation when effectively combined with selection operators can improve the performance of GAs. In this work we present the results of an experimental study on the effect of mutation and selection operators in GA for mesh router nodes placement problem. The study aims to identify the mutation and selection types that work best for instances of different characteristics.