Routing protocols for Wireless Mesh Networks: A comparative study

Abstract

A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a particular type of mobile ad hoc network (MANET), which aims to provide high bandwidth access for a large number of users. Shared nature of the wireless medium, static nodes and diversity of multiple paths between source and destination nodes makes designing of routing protocols makes a challenging task for wireless mesh networks when throughput, delay and  protocols overhead taken into consideration. In this paper we present common metrics considered in routing protocol design and complete comparative analysis between some of the most deployed routing protocols in the wireless mesh networks along with simulation results for throughput, overhead and overall delay.