1. Enhancements to Mesh Discovery
Month Year
doc.: IEEE yy/xxxxr0
March 2008
Enhancements to Mesh Discovery
Date:
Authors:
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al
John Doe, Some Company

2. Outline Enhancement 1: Enhancement 2:
March 2008
Outline
Enhancement 1:
Problem: Individual mesh devices in the same mesh network need to be differentiated
Solution: Utilize a user friendly name, i.e. Mesh Point Name IE
Enhancement 2:
Problem: An MP needs to discover multiple neighbor MPs and the discovery process can be slow
Solution: Utilize a Mesh Neighbor Report protocol
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

3. A mesh ID identifies a mesh network but not individual mesh points
March 2008
A mesh ID identifies a mesh network but not individual mesh points
Users of infrastructure networks just want to connect to a network that offers internet connection
An SSID is sufficient to identify such a network
However, users of a mesh network may want to identify different MPs within the same network
For municipal mesh networks, service providers may want to identify individual mesh points for network maintenance and diagnostic purposes
In home mesh networks, different mesh devices have different functionalities and offer different services
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

4. Mesh point names can help users to identify different mesh devices
March 2008
Mesh point names can help users to identify different mesh devices
For instance, if a user cannot find a particular mesh point or the routes are not what he/she has expected, he/she may want to take a look at the topology
Each MP reports its neighbors and the routes, expressed in MAC addresses
It’s very time consuming to match an MP’s MAC address with the actual physical device in the field
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

5. Example: how can individual MPs be differentiated by MAC addresses
March 2008
Example: how can individual MPs be differentiated by MAC addresses
A student, Mike, may have a mesh network that consists of 5 mesh points
Without the MP Name IE, Mike can only see the mesh ID, i.e. “Mike’ Mesh”
Because Mesh IDs are included in beacons/probe responses, Mike will be able to see them before his devices set up peer links with any of the MPs
If Mike is a smart student majoring in computer networks, he may choose to look at individual MPs’ MAC addresses to differentiate them
Mike’s Mesh
Mike’s Mesh (…….)
Mike’s Mesh (00-0F-47-6E-39-F3)
Mike’s Mesh (00-0E-35-8F-C3-D9)
Mesh ID & MAC Address
Mesh ID only
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

6. Mesh ID & Mesh Point Name
March 2008
Mesh point names are much easier to remember and recognize than MAC addresses
If MP names are defined, Mike can see the following structure:
Mike’s Mesh
Ingree (or IBM laptop)
Harry (or HP printer)
Danny (or Dell desktop)
Mary (or Monitor)
Susan (or Sony DVD player)
City’s mesh
4th & Philadelphia
3rd & Florida
2nd & Virginia
5th & Massachusetts
1st & Washington
Mesh ID & Mesh Point Name
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

7. The format of MP Name IE is the same as that of the mesh ID or SSID
March 2008
The format of MP Name IE is the same as that of the mesh ID or SSID
BSSID is used to identify each BSS in an infrastructure network. Yet, BSSID is a 6-octect MAC address, which is not easily recognized by human users
A mesh point name can be easily remembered and recognized by a human user
A variable length MP name field, i.e. 0 to 32-octet, is included
Element ID
Length
Mesh Point Name 1
0-32
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

8. The MP name may be present in mesh beacon and probe response messages
March 2008
The MP name may be present in mesh beacon and probe response messages
The content of MP name can be configured by higher layer discovery protocols, IT management software, etc.
Exactly how the MP name is configured is out of scope of the standard
For example: Microsoft MSDN provides UPnP APIs for implementers to get user friendly strings
The functionality of the layer 2 is just to transport this MP name over the air interface
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

9. Outline Enhancement 1: Enhancement 2:
March 2008
Outline
Enhancement 1:
Problem: Individual mesh devices in the same mesh network need to be differentiated
Solution: Utilize a Mesh Point ID
Enhancement 2:
Problem: An MP needs to discover multiple neighbor MPs and the discovery process can be slow
Solution: Utilize a Mesh Neighbor Report protocol
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

10. An MP needs to scan and discover one or more of its neighboring MPs
March 2008
An MP needs to scan and discover one or more of its neighboring MPs
In an infrastructure network, a STA only needs to discover and associate to one AP (Not a problem)
In a mesh network, a MP may want to set up peer links with multiple MPs
Given that different MPs might be on different channels and some of them may be in power save mode, a complete discovery process in a mesh network can be much slower than that in an infrastructure network
We propose to use a Mesh Neighbor Report to speed up the discovery process
Similar concept exists for the infrastructure mode of operation
Details are different
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

11. Mesh Neighbor Report Request
March 2008
A new MP can discover additional neighbors through a mesh neighbor report request/response frame exchange
Mesh Neighbor Report Request
Mesh Neighbor Report Response
Category
Dialogue token
Action
Optional elements
Optional elements may include Mesh ID, MAC address, etc. to specify the desired mesh network or neighbor MP
Category
Dialogue token
Action
MP report element
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

12. Optional subelements may include TSF information, etc.
March 2008
The Mesh Neighbor Report element contains discovery-related information of neighboring MPs
The element contains reporting MP’s neighbor MPs’ addresses, information, channel, PHY type, and optional sub-elements
Element ID
MP address
Length
MP information
Regulatory class
Channel number
PHY type
Optional subelements 1 4 6
variable
octets:
Optional subelements may include TSF information, etc.
Security bits
Information 00
Security information unknown 01
Reserved 10
Different security provisioning 11
Same security provisioning
security
capabilities
Reserved
Bits: 14 16 2
MP Information
The security bits indicate whether the neighbor MP supports the same security provisioning as the MP sending the report
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

13. March 2008
The capability field contains selected capability information of the neighbor MP
The selected capability information identifies the basic information of a neighbor MP
Active Mode Only
Power Save active
MDA enabled
For-warding
HT support
Accept peer links 2
Bits: 2 2 2 2 2
Capability bits
Information 00
Information unknown 01
Reserved 10
Not supported 11
Supported
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

14. More details on how to set the capability bits
March 2008
More details on how to set the capability bits
The “Accepting Peer Links” field is set to 11 if the MP is able and willing to establish peer links with other MPs
The “Active Mode Only” field is set to 11 if the MP does not go into power save mode
The “Power Save Active” field is set to 11 if the MP is currently in power save mode
The “MDA Enabled” field is set to 11 if the MP supports MDA services
The "Forwarding" field is set to 11 if the MP is a forwarding MP
The “HT support” field is set to 11 if the MP supports high throughput
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

15. March 2008
In summary, we propose two mesh discovery enhancement schemes: 1) a mesh point name and 2) mesh neighbor report
Using the Mesh Point Name IE, user friendly names can be given to individual mesh points
We do not specify how Mesh Point Name IE is configured
We do not specify how Mesh Point Name IE is utilized
Here are some examples of how Mesh Point Name IE can be utilized:
Mesh Point Name IEs can be carried in MP neighbor report messages and/or in action frames over multiple hops if required
An example multihop implementation can be found at:
Mesh neighbor report can be utilized for faster mesh discovery
After setting up a peer link with one MP, a new MP can discover multiple neighbor MPs through the neighbor MP report
Add one bit to the mesh capability field:
The bit “Mesh Neighbor Report supported” is set to the value of dot11MeshNeighborReportEnabled
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

16. March 2008
Straw Poll 1
Are you in favor of defining an Mesh Point Name IE that may be carried in beacon and probe response?
Yes No
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al

17. March 2008
Straw Poll 2
Are you in favor of defining an optional Mesh Neighbor Report protocol?
Yes No
Michelle Gong, Intel, et al