Research On Load Balancing Routing Protocol In Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh network is a high-rate and high-capability network. It is a new type of distributed network which is used to solve "the last mile" problem. We can consider it as an combination of WLAN and mobile Ad Hoc network. For several years, WLAN has developed well, but the covered area of its AP is limited, so if we want to set WLAN in a large area, we need lots of APs, which will be expensive. Wireless Mesh network can solve this problem. The covered area of WMN can be expanded because each node in WMN can transfer data. As in Ad Hoc network, routing protocol is an important part in WMN. So, this paper studies the routing protocol in wireless Mesh network.Firstly, this paper introduces the concept, structure, features and applications of wireless Mesh network. Secondly, we apply the routing protocols which are designed for Ad Hoc network to WMN and analyse their pros and cons. Thirdly, based on DSR, we propose a load-balance based routing protocol - CARP (Congestion Adaptive Routing Protocol). CARP will first find two node-disjoint and low-load paths for transmitting data, and when the congestion is going to happen, this protocol can take ways to avoid it in advance. Through our elaborate analysis and simulation, we can prove that our protocol can beat DSR in Packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay and control packet overhead when the network load is high.