Publication Type

Magazine Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

10-2003

Abstract

The concept of a forwarding node, which receives packets from upstream nodes and then transmits these packets to downstream nodes, is a key element of any multihop network, wired or wireless. While high-speed IP router architectures have been extensively studied for wired networks, the concept of a "wireless IP router" has not been addressed so far. We examine the limitations of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol in supporting a low-latency and high-throughput IP datapath comprising multiple wireless LAN hops. We first propose a wireless IP forwarding architecture that uses MPLS with modifications to 802.11 MAC to significantly improve packet forwarding efficiency. We then study further enhancements to 802.11 MAC that improve system throughput by allowing a larger number of concurrent packet transmissions in multihop 802.11-based IP networks. With 802.11 poised to be the dominant technology for wireless LANs, we believe a combined approach to MAC, packet forwarding, and transport layer protocols is needed to make high-performance multihop 802.11 networks practically viable.

Discipline

Software Engineering

Research Areas

Software and Cyber-Physical Systems

Publication

IEEE Wireless Communications

Volume

10

Issue

5

First Page

22

Last Page

28

ISSN

1536-1284

Identifier

10.1109/MWC.2003.1241091

Publisher

IEEE

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1109/MWC.2003.1241091

Share

COinS