Deployment Considerations in Wireless Mesh Networking Month Year doc.: IEEE 802.11-05/0000r0 March 2005 Deployment Considerations in Wireless Mesh Networking Date: 2005-03-16 Author: Name Company Address Phone email Veera Anantha Wireless Valley 2404 Rutland Drive, Austin, TX 78738 512-821-1560 veera@wirelessvalley.com Roger Skidmore Wireless Valley 2404 Rutland Drive, Austin, TX 78738 512-821-1560 roger@wirelessvalley.com Notice: This document has been prepared to assist IEEE 802.11. It is offered as a basis for discussion and is not binding on the contributing individual(s) or organization(s). The material in this document is subject to change in form and content after further study. The contributor(s) reserve(s) the right to add, amend or withdraw material contained herein. Release: The contributor grants a free, irrevocable license to the IEEE to incorporate material contained in this contribution, and any modifications thereof, in the creation of an IEEE Standards publication; to copyright in the IEEE’s name any IEEE Standards publication even though it may include portions of this contribution; and at the IEEE’s sole discretion to permit others to reproduce in whole or in part the resulting IEEE Standards publication. The contributor also acknowledges and accepts that this contribution may be made public by IEEE 802.11. Patent Policy and Procedures: The contributor is familiar with the IEEE 802 Patent Policy and Procedures <http:// ieee802.org/guides/bylaws/sb-bylaws.pdf>, including the statement "IEEE standards may include the known use of patent(s), including patent applications, provided the IEEE receives assurance from the patent holder or applicant with respect to patents essential for compliance with both mandatory and optional portions of the standard." Early disclosure to the Working Group of patent information that might be relevant to the standard is essential to reduce the possibility for delays in the development process and increase the likelihood that the draft publication will be approved for publication. Please notify the Chair <stuart.kerry@philips.com> as early as possible, in written or electronic form, if patented technology (or technology under patent application) might be incorporated into a draft standard being developed within the IEEE 802.11 Working Group. If you have questions, contact the IEEE Patent Committee Administrator at <patcom@ieee.org>. Veera Anantha, Wireless Valley Veera Anantha, WVC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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