Efficient relaying and routing in practical wireless mesh networks

未来的无线通信网络有望有效地支持大覆盖区域、异质多媒体应用、无缝漫游和快速适应用户移动性带来的网络动态变化。无线Mesh网络作为下一代无线通信网络的候选网络之一，由于其在提供可伸缩性、灵活性、资源效率和服务质量(Qos)提供(在网络容量、传输延迟、呼叫丢弃/阻塞率等方面)方面的能力而被认为是很有前途的。无线Mesh网络的重要性已经被当前的标准活动所支持，如IEEE802.11s和IEEE802.16。然而，无线Mesh网络的实际应用受到恶劣的无线信道条件、异质的服务质量要求、非基础设施的网络拓扑和多跳传输的强烈限制。因此，设计实用可行的无线Mesh网络已成为当前电信研究领域的一个关键而紧迫的课题。为了加强这一领域的研究，该提案侧重于设计有效和高效的网络技术，以促进无线Mesh网络的实际实现。具体地说，该方案将集中在a)提高网络容量的分布式用户中继算法，b)高资源利用率和端到端服务质量保证的路由算法，c)网络性能分析和对所提出算法的评估。将跨层设计、异质流量特性以及分布式和可扩展需求相结合将是主要的设计原则。研究成果将通过在期刊和会议记录、技术研讨会、发明披露和专利上的出版物进行传播。

Future wireless communication networks are expected to effectively support large coverage area, heterogeneous multimedia applications, seamless roaming, and quick adaptation to network dynamics resulting from user mobility. As one of candidates for the next generation wireless communication networks, wireless mesh networks are considered to be promising due to their abilities in providing scalability, flexibility, resource efficiency, and quality of service (QoS) provisioning (in terms of network capacity, transmission latency, call dropping/blocking probability, etc.). The significance of wireless mesh networks has been supported by the current standard activities, such as IEEE 802.11s and IEEE 802.16. However, the practical applications of wireless mesh networks are strongly limited due to hostile wireless channel conditions, heterogeneous QoS requirements, non-infrastructure network topology, and multihop transmitting. Therefore, designing practically feasible wireless mesh networks has become a critical and emergent topic in the current telecommunications research field. In order to enhance the research in this field, the proposal focuses on designing effective and efficient network technologies for facilitating practical implementation of wireless mesh networks. Specifically, the proposal will focus on a) the distributed user relaying algorithms for network capacity improvement, b) the routing algorithms for high resource utilization and end-to-end QoS provisioning, and c) the analysis on network performance and the evaluation on the proposed algorithms. The integration of cross-layer design, heterogeneous traffic characteristics, and distributed and scalable requirements will be the major design principle. The research results will be disseminated through publications in journals and conference proceedings, technical seminars, and invention disclosures and patents.