Mesh testbed for multi-channel MAC development: Design and experimentation

Abstract

Multi-channel access presents a huge potential to boost the performance of 802.11 mesh/adhoc networks. It allows multiple simultaneous transmissions in a given radio neighborhood that improves network throughput and scalability. Still, its research is limited to simulations only and its experimental study is rare. To bridge this gap, we have setup a testbed called OpenWireless to develop and test multi-channel MAC protocols in a mesh/adhoc scenario. The testbed consists of 20 nodes that are based on commodity hardware and use the Linux 802.11 networking architecture for wireless applications. In this paper, we present the design of the testbed and development experience gained. We will discuss experimental studies that identify some of the issues involved in using commodity hardware for the multi-channel MAC development. In the end, the paper also discusses the implementation of our multi-channel MAC protocol and its experimental evaluation that validates the potential of the multi-channel access in mesh/adhoc networks as compared to the traditional single channel access. Copyright 2010 ACM.