Ad-hoc path: an alternative to backbone for Wireless Mesh Networks

The access link contention can severely constrain the end-to-end throughput of the path between a source and destination mobile node connected through the backbone of the Wireless Mesh Network (WMN). In this paper, we propose an integrated routing system for WMN that includes both the backbone paths and the ad-hoc paths formed as a result of direct communication among mobile nodes without going through the backbone. In our proposed routing system, an alternative ad-hoc path can be used only when the primary backbone path is severely constrained due to access links contention. We propose a scheme that allows the source mobile node to evaluate the throughput of the backbone and ad-hoc paths, and select one path for communicating with the destination. We implemented the proposed routing system in OPNET simulator, and evaluated the performance of our scheme under variety of conditions. Simulation results show that the alternative ad-hoc path is effective in delivering higher throughput when backbone path is severely constrained.