Home // International Journal On Advances in Internet Technology, volume 3, numbers 1 and 2, 2010 // View article

MIMO Capacity of Wireless Mesh Networks

Authors:
Sebastian Max
Bernhard Walke

Keywords: Wireless Networks, Capacity, Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output (MIMO), Mesh

Abstract:
A Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) serves to extend the wireless coverage of an Internet gateway by means of Mesh Stations (MSTAs) that transparently forward data between Stations (STAs) and the gateway. This concept reduces deployment costs by exchanging the multiple gateways, required to cover a larger area with wireless Internet access, by a wireless backbone. Unfortunately, this also reduces capacity, owing to multiple transmissions of the same data packet on its multi-hop route. Hence, different mechanisms to increase the capacity of WMNs are investigated. Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO) is a technique that is able to increase the capacity of a single link in the same bandwidth and transmission power: Both the transmitter and the receiver is configured with multiple antennas. If multiple streams are transmitted in a rich scattering environment, these streams can be separated and decoded by the receiver successfully. However, it is unclear how this single-link capacity increase translates into a system capacity increase in a WMN. In this paper, we will combine a realistic MIMO model with a capacity calculation framework to show the combined effect of the two technologies. The results show that although not the full link capacity increase of MIMO can be exploited, especially WMNs benefit from the MIMO gain.

Pages: 53 to 64

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2010. Used with permission.

Publication date: September 5, 2010

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2652