Even though wireless technology improved every day, it always had limitations of access points ( Nodes that allow wireless devices to connect to the internet ) limited by either restricted to buildings and houses rather than covering metropolitan areas or restricted bandwidth. There was a huge need to make this wireless connectivity to give higher performance, better connectivity, more extensive coverage, and smart wireless networking. Third Generation Wireless Mesh Networking answers this. Welcome to another series of getting to know technology.
What is Wireless Mesh Networking (WMN)?
Mesh is a group of interconnected objects which can somehow work together if made to do so. They can act as one unit by providing possibly different types of services. Wireless Mesh Networking is a group of nodes that can handle requests from different wireless devices. They act as one unit.
What are First Generation and Second Generation WMN?
The first generation had the limitation of coverage area and high costs. It had only one node, which used to handle the request as well as the backhand traffic. The Second generation provided 1 + 1, or 2 radio at one node. This solved congestion as one radio used to handle the user request and another the backhand traffic. But the problem remained as they used to share the same channel. Hence a slight increase in traffic could give it a hard time.
What is Third Generation WMN?
Third Generation solutions not only solved the above problem, but they had added features that the users could use. This generation of WMN added radio to each node. Hence each of them used a different channel. The user request and backhand traffic were not handled by 2 different radios giving better performance and lower congestion. The first radio was responsible for up-going stream and the other for downloading data. This increased the bandwidth. But then Third Generation WMN was smarter. There was always a fear of breaching the network by a third party. Possibility of interference with other devices running at the same frequency. This generation used software that can detect and avoid interference. The program continuously monitors the chances of interference and, if found, changes its topology to avoid it.
Advantages of Third Generation WMN
- Low delay
- Minimal variation in delay.
- The capability of supporting on-demand services
- VOIP support.
- Suited of upcoming mobile devices like 3g and 4g devices.
