Optimal link scheduling for multimedia QoS support in wireless mesh network

Abstract

Supporting multimedia quality of service (QoS) is a necessary and critical requirement for next generation wireless networks. Wireless Mesh Networking is envisioned as an economically viable paradigm and a promising technology for supporting multimedia QoS. The non-mobile mesh routers with the capability of having less-constrained transmission power are the distinct characteristics for this type of wireless networks. Exploiting these capabilities provides better solutions for allocating network resources such as bandwidth, and supports satisfying QoS requirements. Using these characteristics, we propose a QoS-aware link scheduling scheme for wireless mesh networks (WMNs). The scheme allocates time slots and transmission power to the network nodes in a way that maximizes the spatial reuse of the network bandwidth. In this paper, we study two cases: a mesh network with battery-powered devices and a network with outletpowered devices. Using computer simulations, we show that the QoS constraints for the different traffic flows can be met, for the two cases, in addition to maximizing the network throughput.