Abstract
The capacity of wireless mesh networks (WMN) must usually be upgraded as
usage demands evolve over time. This is normally done by adding gateways
which serve to increase the backhaul capacity of the network. In this paper
we consider adding capacity in this manner using free-space optical (FSO)
backhaul links. To accomplish this, we formulate a joint clustering and
gateway placement problem which includes the strong rate-distance dependence
of practical FSO links. The formulation incorporates the positions of
existing wireline gateways and minimizes the number of additional
hybrid-FSO/RF gateways which are needed to satisfy the target capacity
requirements. After showing the complexity of the problem, a solution that
is motivated by genetic algorithms is proposed. The performance of our
algorithm is then compared to an optimal solution generated via an integer
linear program (ILP) for small WMNs. The proposed algorithm is then modified
to allow for balancing the traffic load that is carried by each gateway in
the WMN. Many scenarios are considered which demonstrate the value of using
FSO backhaul links to obtain post-deployment capacity upgrades in response
to changes in user traffic.
© 2009 IEEE
PDF Article
More Like This
Cited By
You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.
Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription
Add to BibSonomy