A smart access-point selection algorithm for scalable wireless mesh networks

As a flexible, cost-efficient solution for a scalable Internet-access network, we have studied the architecture and design optimization issues of the Wireless Internet-access Mesh NETwork (WIMNET) that is composed of wirelessly connected multiple access-points (APs). WIMNET utilizes two types of APs as wireless mesh routers to achieve the scalability with sufficient bandwidth while reducing costs. One is an expensive, programmable smart AP (SAP) that can use plural channels for wireless communications and has various functions for the Internet access. Another is an inexpensive, non-programmable conventional AP (CAP) that can use only one channel. To enhance the performance of WIMNET with a small number of costly SAPs, the allocation of SAPs in the network field is very important. In this paper, we propose a SAP selection algorithm of selecting a fixed number of SAPs from a given set of allocated APs. Then, we extend this algorithm to finding the minimal SAP set that provides the maximal throughput for the efficient WIMNET. We verify the effectiveness of our proposals through extensive simulations using the WIMNET simulator.