Performance monitoring framework for Wi-Fi MANET

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET) are known for their rapid deployment and self-organizing capabilities. Those qualities are making MANET a candidate communication infrastructure for rescue forces in emergency events. However, existing Wi-Fi MANET implementations are exhibiting unsatisfactory performance, and the dynamic multi-hop topology of the network makes it difficult to identify the bottlenecks. This paper1 suggests a performance monitoring model for Wi-Fi MANET, incorporating concepts of a Geographic Information and Monitoring System (GIMS), that passively monitors the MANET deployment, thus enabling to optimize and fine-tune the network. Specifically, our monitoring model addresses the known Wi-Fi problems of hidden node and exposed node that are intensified in MANET. We provide a theoretical solution, deriving from the field of conflict graphs, which assists to identify and locate such situations. Experimental results from a real-life testbed that emulates such problems confirm that the suggested approach can effectively detects cases of hidden and exposed nodes in MANET.