1. Deployment Considerations in Wireless Mesh Networking
Month Year
doc.: IEEE /0000r0
March 2005
Deployment Considerations in Wireless Mesh Networking
Date:
Author:
Name
Company
Address
Phone
Veera Anantha
Wireless Valley
2404 Rutland Drive, Austin, TX 78738
Roger Skidmore
Wireless Valley
2404 Rutland Drive, Austin, TX 78738
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Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley
Veera Anantha, WVC

2. March 2005
Motivation
In many real world mesh deployments (example: Campus wide network), a global planning / design and management of the mesh network topology is important to ensure a successful deployment
Satisfying key mesh constraints / properties relevant to the usage model is important
Understanding the physical environment (site-specific knowledge) and the intended usage of the network is very important in this analysis
Control mechanisms could be defined in TGs to effectively manage wireless mesh networks for different usage scenarios
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

3. Designing Mesh Networks – Broad Goals
March 2005
Designing Mesh Networks – Broad Goals
Design and manage the network to ensure that a minimum level of service quality can be guaranteed for all clients across the network
Plan the critical primary / preferred multi-hop forwarding paths and the secondary / redundant multi-hop forwarding paths that should be used in the mesh network
Design and manage network to ensure that within the desired service area new APs can successfully discover and join the deployed mesh network
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

4. Designing Mesh Networks – Some Mesh Topology Constraints
March 2005
Designing Mesh Networks – Some Mesh Topology Constraints
Identify the subset of MPs that should have backhaul connectivity
Design to limit the maximum number of hops required to reach a MP with backhaul connectivity
Design to provide sufficient redundancy to reach MPs with backhaul connectivity
Design to provide required end-to-end throughput for critical paths
Identify the subset of MPs that should transmit Mesh Control messages (for example: Mesh specific Beacons)
The desired service area should be “sufficiently” covered for mesh discovery mechanisms to work properly
Design to ensure that there are no critical points / paths of failure in the mesh network
For example, ensure that there are not too few or too many paths going through any given MP
Design MP links to minimize interference
Design a channel reuse plan and specify maximum throughput constraints for each MP link to meet throughput requirements while minimizing interference
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

5. Designing Wireless Mesh Networks – Site-specific Environment
March 2005
Designing Wireless Mesh Networks – Site-specific Environment
Indoor environments
Taking into account the most significant obstructions gives significant improvement in the ability to predict mesh network design / behavior / topology
Outdoor environments
Taking into account different buildings, and most significant clutter provides significant improvements in the overall design
User requirements
Taking into account the user densities in the desired service area can ensure that the throughput requirements are satisfied
Site-specific knowledge in conjunction with mesh topology constraints is important to consider in the design and management of a wireless mesh network
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

6. Designing Mesh Network – Outdoor Campus Deployment
March 2005
Designing Mesh Network – Outdoor Campus Deployment
In this deployment, the goal is to provide adequate wireless coverage to all users and ensure good connectivity to the internet
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

7. Designing Mesh Network – Provide Adequate Coverage in Service Area
March 2005
Designing Mesh Network – Provide Adequate Coverage in Service Area
In this deployment, there is adequate coverage in the required service area
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

8. Designing Mesh Network – Problem in Connectivity to Wired Network
March 2005
MP directly connected to wired network
MPs with no connectivity to wired network
Even though there is adequate coverage in service area, several MPs in this deployment do not have adequate connectivity to the wired network
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

9. Designing Mesh Network – Resolving Problems in Connectivity to Wired Network
March 2005
MP directly connected to wired network
MPs with no connectivity to wired network
A site-specific mesh-aware design ensures that there is adequate connectivity to the wired network
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley

10. March 2005
Conclusion
In many real world mesh deployments, a global planning and management of the mesh network topology is important to ensure a successful deployment
Site-specific environment knowledge, in conjunction with Mesh network topology constraints are very important to consider in this analysis
This should be taken into account while defining control mechanisms in TGs in order to effectively manage wireless mesh networks for different usage requirements
Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley