Building wireless mesh networks in forests: antenna direction, transmit power, and vegetation effects on network performance

Authors:
Kuang-Ching Wang;Gayatri Venkatesh;Sajindra Pradhananga;Sandeep Lokala;Shari Carter;Jason Isenhower;James Vaughn
Affiliations:
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA;Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA;Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA;Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA;South Carolina Governor's School, Hartsville, SC, USA;South Carolina Governor's School, Hartsville, SC, USA;South Carolina Governor's School, Hartsville, SC, USA
Venue:
Proceedings of the third ACM international workshop on Wireless network testbeds, experimental evaluation and characterization
Year:
2008

Citing 4
Cited 0

Architecture and evaluation of an unplanned 802.11b mesh network

Proceedings of the 11th annual international conference on Mobile computing and networking
A wireless mesh network testbed in rural mountain areas

Proceedings of the second ACM international workshop on Wireless network testbeds, experimental evaluation and characterization
Heraklion MESH: an experimental metropolitan multi-radio mesh network

Proceedings of the second ACM international workshop on Wireless network testbeds, experimental evaluation and characterization
Simplifying fault diagnosis in locally managed rural WiFi networks

Proceedings of the 2007 workshop on Networked systems for developing regions

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.01

Visualization

Abstract

Wireless mesh networks have become an effective solution for extending Internet connectivity to large areas without an existing communication infrastructure. Building a mesh network in areas with heavy vegetation, however, is challenging due to their severe radio attenuating effects. At Clemson, a wireless mesh network testbed is being built in deep forests to connect watershed monitoring sensors to Internet. This paper presents the testbed and link performance measurements conducted with varied antenna orientation, transmit power, and obstructing vegetation between wireless mesh routers. The results will be useful for deriving radio link models for assessing the performance and reliability of forest wireless networks.