Mesh networking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths by “hopping” from node to node until the destination is reached. A mesh network whose nodes are all connected to each other is a fully connected network. Mesh networks differ from other networks in that the component parts can all connect to each other via multiple hops, and they generally are not mobile. Mobile ad-hoc networking (MANet), featured in many consumer devices, is a kind of mesh network.

Mesh networks are self-healing: the network can still operate even when a node breaks down or a connection goes bad. As a result, a very reliable network is formed. This concept is applicable to wireless networks, wired networks, and software interaction.

There are three distinct generations of wireless mesh architectures. In the first generation one radio provides both backhaul (packet relaying) and client services (access to a laptop). In the second generation, one radio relayed packets over multiple hops while another provided client access. This significantly improved backhaul bandwidth and latency. Third generation mesh nodes use two or more radios for the backhaul for higher bandwidth and low latency. Third generation mesh products are replacing previous generation products as more demanding applications like voice and video need to be relayed wirelessly over many hops of the mesh network.

[edit] Examples

An MIT project developing Children's Machines for under-privileged schools in developing nations plans to use mesh networking to create a robust and inexpensive infrastructure for the students who will receive the laptops. The instantaneous connections made by the laptops are claimed by the project to reduce the need for an external infrastructure such as the internet to reach all areas, because a connected node could share the connection with nodes nearby. A technology similar to the one used in the Children's Machines is available for use on netgear/x86/Meraki nodes. See roofnet.

In Cambridge, UK, on the 3rd June 2006, mesh networking was used at the “Strawberry Fair” to run mobile live television, radio and internet services to an estimated 80,000 people.

The Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN) project is developing mesh networking software based on open source implementations of the Hazy-Sighted Link State Routing Protocol and Expected Transmission Count metric.

[edit] See also

• Wireless community network
• Wireless mesh network
• Generations of mesh networks
• Mobile ad-hoc network
• Wireless sensor networks
• Network topologies
• roofnet
• IEEE 802.11s
• Bus network
• B.A.T.M.A.N.
• Sensor Web
• Shared mesh
• Switched mesh
• Netsukuku
• tinc (protocol)

[edit] External links

• Analysis of Mesh Architectures Why all mesh products are not created equal.
• What is Third Generation Mesh? Review of three generation of mesh networking architectures.
• Is Multi-radio mesh worthwhile? Cost considerations of multi-radio mesh.
• MIT Roofnet A research project at MIT that forms the basis of roofnet / Meraki mesh networks
• Ugly Truths About Mesh Networks Performance issues of First and Second Generation Mesh products.
• Roofnet.net Mesh network documentation and monitoring for MIT-based roofnet networks
• Open Source Mesh Moskaluk’s Mesh network documentation and monitoring for Locustworld Open Source AODV
• www.netequality.org A non-profit building community wireless systems based upon roofnet mesh networks
• The Grid Ad Hoc Networking Project
• AUGNet Project The Ad Hoc UAV Ground Network is the realization of a MANET with ground-based and unmanned airborne nodes.
• CUWiN