Load-balanced and interference-aware spanning tree construction algorithm for TDMA-based wireless mesh networks

Wireless mesh networks have been attracting many users in recent years. By connecting base stations (mesh nodes) with wireless connections, these network can achieve a wide-area wireless environment with flexible configuration and low cost at the risk of radio interference between wireless links. When we utilize wireless mesh networks as infrastructures for Internet access, all network traffic from mobile nodes goes through a gateway node that is directly connected to the wired network. Therefore, it is necessary to distribute the traffic load by deploying multiple gateway nodes. In this paper, we propose a spanning tree construction algorithm for TDMA-based wireless mesh networks with multiple gateway nodes so as to maximize the traffic volume transferred between the mesh network and the Internet (system throughput) by taking account of the traffic load on the gateway nodes, the access link capacity and radio interference. Through a performance evaluation, we show that the proposed algorithm increases the system throughput regardless of the bottleneck position and achieves up to 3.1 times higher system throughput than a conventional algorithm.