Design and Implementation of a Dual-Radio Wireless Mesh Network Testbed for Healthcare

This paper presents a new wireless networking technology, wireless mesh networks (WMN), for healthcare. The WMN architecture, characteristics, advantages and its potential applications in healthcare are discussed. Furthermore, a dual-radio WMN testbed, SwanMesh, has been developed to evaluate the applications of WMN in healthcare. This paper presents the architecture, security, and management of SwanMesh. The basic network performance in terms of bandwidth and delays are also evaluated. The test results show the developed network maintained a stable bandwidth after multiple hops. The developed WMN can be used in hospital and community for communication and healthcare. At last, the application of WMN in hospital is envisioned.