An Extension of Wireless Internet-Access Mesh Network Simulator for Use of Smart Antenna

As an inexpensive, flexible, and scalable Internet-access network, we have studied architecture, protocols, and design optimizations of the Wireless Internet-access Mesh NETwork (WIMNET). WIMNET consists of multiple access-points (APs) as wireless routers that are connected through wireless links. To improve the performance by realizing high-speed and simultaneous plural link communications, we have considered use of the smart antenna as a generalized technology of the Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) channel and the Adaptive Array Antenna (AAA). In this paper, we present an extension of the WIMNET simulator for use of the smart antenna, which has been developed by our group to estimate the throughput in WIMNET. Through simulations in six simple topologies, we evaluate impacts of the smart antenna use strategy and of the interval between adjacent wireless nodes including APs and hosts, into the performance of WIMNET. Their results show that the best strategy depends on a network topology, and the throughput becomes peak when the interval is 30 m or 50 m.