ABSTRACT
To begin with, we describe the general architecture of WMNs. The architecture is shown in Figure 17.1, where dash lines indicate wireless links.
A WMN consists of multiple mesh routers (or simply called nodes), which can forward packets on behalf of other mesh routers through wireless communication. To further improve the performance, a mesh router may be equipped with more than one radio interface. Mesh routers that are connected to the Internet are called Internet gateways (or simply called gateways). Mesh routers usually have minimal mobility and are usually fixed, such as being deployed on roofs or streetlight poles. Like any access point, a mesh router can serve local mobile stations in its area. The stations may be desktop/laptop PCs, PDAs, WiFi phones, etc. The mesh routers wirelessly relay packets of stations to other routers until they reach a gateway that connects to the Internet. More generally, instead of serving as a
WiFi access point, a mesh router can also interoperate with a local-area network such as an Ethernet, Bluetooth, or sensor network.
