Approaching Wireless Mesh Networks
What is a wireless mesh network?
A wireless mesh network (wireless mesh network) is also called a "multi-hop" network. It is a new type of wireless network technology that is completely different from traditional wireless networks.
In a traditional wireless local area network (WLAN), each client accesses the network through a wireless link connected to the AP. If users want to communicate with each other, they must first access a fixed access point (AP). This kind of network structure is called single-hop network. In a wireless mesh network, any wireless device node can act as both an AP and a router. Each node in the network can send and receive signals. Each node can communicate directly with one or more peer nodes.
The biggest benefit of this architecture is that if the most recent AP is congested due to excessive traffic, then the data can be automatically rerouted to a nearby node with less traffic. And so on, the data packet can also continue to be routed to the nearest next node for transmission according to the network conditions until reaching the final destination. This access method is multi-hop access.
In fact, the well-known Internet is a typical example of a Mesh network. For example, when we send an E-mail, the e-mail does not arrive directly in the recipient's mailbox. Instead, it is forwarded from one server to another through a router, and finally reaches the user's mailbox after multiple routes. In the process of forwarding, the router generally selects the most efficient transmission path so that the email can reach the user's mailbox as soon as possible.
Compared with the traditional switched network, the wireless mesh network eliminates the wiring requirements between nodes, but still has the redundancy mechanism and rerouting function provided by the distributed network. In a wireless mesh network, if you want to add a new device, you simply connect it to the power supply. It automatically configures itself and determines the optimal multi-hop transmission path. When adding or moving devices, the network can automatically discover topology changes and automatically adjust communication routes to get the most efficient transmission path.
Five advantages of Mesh network
Compared with traditional WLANs, wireless Mesh networks have several unparalleled advantages:
1. Rapid deployment and easy installation. Installing the Mesh node is very simple. Take the device out of the box and connect it to the power supply. With greatly simplified installation, users can easily add new nodes to expand wireless network coverage and network capacity. In a wireless mesh network, not every mesh node needs a wired cable connection, which is the biggest difference from a wired AP. Mesh's design goal is to minimize the number of wired devices and wired APs, which greatly reduces the total cost of ownership and installation time, and the cost savings from this alone are very impressive. The configuration of wireless mesh networks and other network management functions are the same as those of traditional WLANs. The experience of users using WLANs can be easily applied to Mesh networks.
2. Non-line-of-sight transmission (NLOS). The use of Wireless Mesh technology can be easily implemented NLOS configuration, so it has a wide range of applications in outdoor and public places. The user who has a direct line of sight with the transmitting station first receives the wireless signal, and then forwards the received signal to the user who is not directly at sight. In this way, the signal can automatically select the best path to constantly jump from one user to another and eventually reach the target user without direct line of sight. In this way, users with direct line-of-sight actually provide wireless broadband access to nearby users who have no direct line of sight. The ability of wireless mesh networks to transmit in non-line of sight greatly expands the application and coverage of wireless broadband.
3. Robustness. The usual way to achieve network robustness is to use multiple routers to transmit data. If a router fails, the information is transmitted by other routers through an alternate path. E-mail is an example of this. The e-mail message is divided into several data packets, which are then sent through the Internet via multiple routers, and finally assembled into the user's inbox. Mesh networks are more robust than single-hop networks because they do not rely on the performance of a single node. In a single-hop network, if one node fails, the entire network will collapse. In the mesh network structure, each node has one or more paths for transmitting data. If the most recent node fails or is disturbed, the data packet will be automatically routed to the standby path to continue transmission, and the entire network operation will not be affected.
4. Flexible structure. In a single-hop network, devices must share APs. If several devices are to access the network at the same time, communication congestion may occur and the speed of the system may be reduced. In a multi-hop network, the device can connect to the network through different nodes at the same time, so it will not lead to a decrease in system performance.
Mesh networks also provide greater redundancy mechanisms and communication load balancing capabilities. In a wireless mesh network, each device has multiple transmission paths available, and the network can dynamically allocate communication routes according to the communication load condition of each node, thereby effectively avoiding communication congestion of the nodes. At present, single-hop networks cannot dynamically handle communication interference and overload of access points.
5. High bandwidth. The physical characteristics of wireless communication determine that the shorter the communication transmission distance, the easier it is to obtain high bandwidth, because with the increase of wireless transmission distance, various interferences and other factors that cause data loss increase. Therefore, choosing to transmit data through multiple short hops is an effective way to obtain higher network bandwidth. This is exactly the advantage of the Mesh network.
In a Mesh network, a node can not only transmit and receive information, but also act as a router to forward information to its neighbors. As more nodes are connected and the number of possible paths increases, the total bandwidth also increases greatly.
In addition, because each short hop has a short transmission distance, the power required to transmit data is also small. Since multi-hop networks generally use lower power to transmit data to adjacent nodes, the wireless signal interference between nodes is also smaller, the network channel quality and channel utilization efficiency are greatly improved, and thus higher network capacity can be achieved. For example, in a high-density urban network environment, a Mesh network can reduce the mutual interference between adjacent users using a wireless network, and greatly increase the channel utilization efficiency.
Insufficient Mesh network
Although wireless mesh networking technology has a wide range of application prospects, there are also some issues that affect its widespread deployment.
1. Interoperability. One of the major obstacles that affect the rapid adoption of wireless mesh technology is interoperability. Just as any emerging network technology has just emerged, wireless mesh networks do not yet have a unified technology standard. Users now have to use only one vendor's wireless mesh products or face different types of embeddings. The problem of wireless device interface, this issue is currently the most important reason for the promotion of the use of wireless Mesh technology. In view of this, some companies are currently developing configurable wireless network devices that can adapt to different wireless environments, and interoperability is expected to be solved to some extent. However, in order to completely solve the interoperability problem, the industry will eventually need to develop a unified wireless mesh technology standard.
2. Communication delay. Since data is transmitted through intermediate nodes in a Mesh network for multi-hop forwarding, each hop will bring at least some delay. As the size of the wireless mesh network increases, the more jumps, the greater the total delay accumulated. Some applications that require high communication delays, such as voice or streaming media applications, may face unacceptably long delays. The current solution to this problem is mainly through the addition of Mesh nodes and appropriate network protocols. With the emergence of multi-wireless mesh node technology, this problem will be finally solved.
3. Safety. Compared with the single-hop mechanism of the WLAN, the multi-hop mechanism of the wireless mesh network determines that the user communication passes through more nodes. The more nodes that data communication goes through, the more the security issues become more and more important. The Internet itself is a typical example of communication using Mesh. Its security risks are well known. Although various end-to-end security technologies used in wired networks, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), can also be used to solve wireless mesh security problems. But just like the Internet, the security of wireless mesh networks is a problem that cannot be ignored.
Wide range of Mesh applications
Mesh networks have broad application prospects in homes, businesses and public places.
1. family
An important use of Mesh technology is to establish a home wireless network. Home-based wireless mesh networking can connect desktop PCs, notebooks and handheld computers, HDTVs, DVD players, game consoles, and a variety of other consumer electronic devices without requiring complex wiring and installation procedures. In the home Mesh network, various household appliances are both online users and also provide access to other devices as part of the network infrastructure. When the number of home appliances increases, this networking mode can provide more capacity and greater coverage. Another key benefit of the Mesh technology application in the home environment is its ability to support highly centralized applications such as high-definition video.
2. enterprise
At present, most of the wireless communication systems of enterprises adopt traditional cellular phone-type wireless links to provide users with point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transmission. Wireless Mesh networks are different. They allow network users to share bandwidth, eliminate bottlenecks in current single-hop networks, and enable dynamic load balancing of networks. Adding or adjusting APs in wireless mesh networks is also easier than wired APs, more flexible in configuration, and less costly to install and use. Especially for those enterprises that need to frequently move access points, the multi-hop structure and configuration flexibility of wireless mesh technology will greatly facilitate the adjustment and upgrade of the network topology.
3. SCHOOL
Campus wireless networks are very similar to large enterprises, but they also have their own different characteristics. First, the scale of campus WLANs is huge, not only because of the large geographic area and users, but also because of the large amount of communications. Students use more multimedia than general corporate users. Second, the requirements for network coverage are high, and the network must be able to achieve indoor, Seamless roaming between outdoor, auditoriums, dormitories, libraries, and public places; Third, load balancing is very important. Because students often need to concentrate on activities, students may experience communication congestion when they use the network at a certain location.
The traditional approach to solving these problems is to install APs indoors in high density, and there are few APs installed outdoors. However, due to the large changes in the user requirements of the campus network, it may be necessary to add new APs or adjust the deployment location of the APs, which will bring about a large increase in costs. Using Mesh mode networking not only facilitates network upgrades and adjustments, but also enables seamless roaming between outdoor and indoor environments.
4. hospital
Mesh also provides an ideal networking solution for public places like hospitals. Due to the dense and complex structure of hospital buildings, some areas also need to prevent electromagnetic radiation, so it is one of the most difficult areas for installing wireless networks. The hospital's network has two main characteristics. First, the wiring is more difficult: In the traditional networking method, it is necessary to drill holes through the walls of the building, which is obviously not conducive to changes in the topology of the network. The second is that the robustness of the network is very demanding: If there are important activities (such as surgery) in the hospital, any possible failure of the network will have catastrophic consequences.
Adopting wireless mesh networking is an ideal solution to these problems. If you want to adjust the wireless network topology of a hospital, you only need to move the location of an existing mesh node or install a new mesh node. The process is very simple, and installing a new mesh node is also very convenient. The robustness and high bandwidth of Wireless Mesh also make it more suitable for deployment in hospitals.
5. Tourist leisure
Mesh is ideal for places where remote locations are difficult or economically uneconomical to provide, but where users need broadband wireless Internet access, such as travel venues, resorts, and motels. Mesh can provide broadband services to these locations at the lowest cost.
6. Rapid deployment and temporary installation
For those places that need rapid deployment or temporary installation, such as exhibitions, trade fairs, disaster relief, etc., Mesh network is undoubtedly the most cost-effective networking method. For example, if you need to temporarily hold a few days or a few days in an exhibition, using Mesh technology to network can minimize the cost.
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