1. Technical Requirements for IEEE 802.11 ESS Mesh Networks
March 2004
Technical Requirements for IEEE ESS Mesh Networks
Tyan-Shu Jou, Ted Kuo, and Ming Sheu
Janusys Networks, Inc.
Date: March 16, 2004
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

2. Assumptions Based on IEEE 802.11-04/054r2 (draft PAR for ESS Mesh)
Month 2002
doc.: IEEE /xxxr0
March 2004
Assumptions
Based on IEEE /054r2 (draft PAR for ESS Mesh)
One ESS Mesh Network contains one or more Mesh Nodes.
Traffic forwarding paths are calculated at each mesh node
Data frames are forwarded by bridging at mesh nodes
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks
John Doe, His Company

3. General Requirements Unicast packets delivery MUST be supported
Month 2002
doc.: IEEE /xxxr0
March 2004
General Requirements
Unicast packets delivery MUST be supported
Broadcast packets delivery SHOULD be supported
Bridging within the ESS mesh SHOULD be transparent to Layer 3 (and above) stack
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks
John Doe, His Company

4. March 2004
Neighbouring Links
Frames exchanged between neighbouring nodes use IEEE WDS four-address frame format
Mutual authentication between neighbours SHOULD be negotiable
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

5. Path Forwarding Protocol
March 2004
Path Forwarding Protocol
In additional to Hop count, the path forwarding protocol MAY consider other metrics such as link quality and supported rate
Path forwarding protocol SHOULD be resistant to temporary link quality instability
There MAY be one or more active paths connected to the wired network from an ESS mesh
Communication between STAs of the same ESS mesh SHOULD be a consideration in designing/adopting the protocol.
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

6. Security Mesh backbone control/management traffic SHOULD be protected
March 2004
Security
Mesh backbone control/management traffic SHOULD be protected
Data traffic over ESS mesh nodes MAY be protected
Mutual authentication mechanism for Mesh nodes needs to be specified by this group.
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

7. Connection to Wired Network
March 2004
Connection to Wired Network
One ESS mesh MAY have multiple connections to the wired network
Load balancing, better bandwidth utilization, and redundancy
Path forwarding protocol SHOULD take it into consideration
Issues:
Traffic looping prevention
Duplicated broadcast frames across the border
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

8. March 2004
STA Association
Each mesh node SHOULD keep up-to-date association information on all STAs within the ESS mesh
Support STA roaming within the ESS mesh regardless of roaming STAs correctly initiate re-association or not
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

9. Advanced Topics QoS on MAC and forwarding
March 2004
Advanced Topics
QoS on MAC and forwarding
Multiple radios (for both mesh backbone and access network)
Hybrid wired and wireless networks
Access channel selection and transmit power adjustment
VLAN & VAP (may combine w/ multiple ESS IDs) support
Mesh node transmit coordination
clock synchronization …
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks

10. Recommended Actions Neighbouring mesh nodes discovery
March 2004
Recommended Actions
Neighbouring mesh nodes discovery
Neighbouring nodes mutual authentication mechanism
Path forwarding protocol
STAs association advertisement
And more…
Tyan-Shu Jou, et al., Janusys Networks