Impact of Topology Control on the Performance of a Self- Organization Scheme for Wireless Mesh Networks

Multi-radio wireless mesh networks (MR-WMN) with a smart channel assignment scheme can be used as a viable cost-effective alternative for a last mile broadband access. The channel assignment algorithm should be such that it reduces the overall interference and increases the aggregate capacity of the network. In this paper, we have concisely presented the key results of our work in progress, which pertain to the evaluation of self-organization algorithm for multi-radio mesh networks. Specifically, the study focuses on the impact of initialization process on the self-organization algorithm performance as it involves mesh node selection for channel assignment. The initialization process results in a topology control of MR-WMN by way of spatial distribution of connectivity between the mesh nodes. The process for initiating the topology of self-organized mesh networks is also described. In order to conclusively show the merits of our initialization process, we have carried out this study for realistic densities of the mesh nodes and their topologies varying from completely random to being ordered in a grid.