MeshScan: fast and efficient handoff in IEEE802.11 mesh networks

Handoff delay is one of the major problems in Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) that needs to be solved in order to allow time-critical and real-time applications run continuously during handoff. We have developed a fast handoff scheme called MeshScan to provide a novel use of channel scanning latency by employing open system authentication. This scheme comprises two steps: firstly a client device takes advantage of the WMN architecture to maintain a list of active mesh nodes. Secondly when handoff is required, a client transmits Authentication Request frames to all mesh nodes (MNs) from the list instead of broadcasting Probe Request frames as in an active scan to discover the available MNs. This fast handoff scheme is feasible by upgrading the software only on the client side. This paper compares the theoretical handoff latency of MeshScan with other approaches and we demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme through experiment. Keywords Wireless Mesh Network; Fast Handoff;.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: MOBIWAC
• Authors: Yin Chen, Karol Kowalik, Mark Davis
• Keywords: Fast Handoff Scheme, Mesh Nodes, MOBIWAC 2009, Wireless Mesh Network, Wireless Networks