Mesh WLAN networks: concept and system design

In recent years WLAN technology has become the common wireless access technology for mobile computing. Additional to infrastructure access to WLAN networks, peer-to-peer and mesh networking are currently gaining in interest. Mesh networking techniques using WLAN are being standardized in IEEE 802.11s. This article describes use cases, the main technical issues, and a set of potential solutions for mesh network development. Furthermore, an overview of the standardization activities in IEEE 802.11s is presented. The key technical aspects of mesh networks identified are topology creation, routing, medium access control, security, quality of service, and power efficiency.