Stub Wireless Multi-hop Networks using Self-configurable Wi-Fi Basic Service Set Cascading

Abstract: The increasing trend in wireless Internet access has been boosted by IEEE 802.11. However, the application scenarios are still limited by its short radio range. Stub Wireless Multi-hop Networks (WMNs) are a robust, flexible, and cost-effective solution to the problem. Yet, typically they are formed by single radio mesh nodes and suffer from hidden node, unfairness, and scalability problems. We propose a simple multi-radio, multi-channel WMN solution, named Wi-Fi network Infrastructure eXtension - Dual-Radio (WiFIX-DR), to overcome these problems. WiFIX-DR reuses IEEE 802.11 built-in mechanisms and beacons to form a Stub WMN as a set of self-configurable interconnected Basic Service Sets (BSSs). Experimental results show the improved scalability enabled by the proposed solution when compared to single-radio WMNs.