FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF AN URBAN TWO-TIER WIRELESS MESH ACCESS NETWORK: END-USER PERSPECTIVE
Keywords:
Wireless Mesh Network, Field measurements, Received Signal Strength IndicatorAbstract
Multi-tier wireless mesh networks are promising technologies that are deployed to provide economic high speed Internet access. In an effort to provide low-cost broadband Internet access to a low income neighborhood in Southeast Houston, Rice University and Technology for All (TFA) organization deployed a multi-tier mesh Wi-Fi Network that extends a single fiber-optic channel to serve a large coverage area. The access tier connects homes to the nearest Wi-Fi Mesh Access Point (MAP); several MAPs are installed in specific locations for complete coverage of the neighborhood. The MAPs form a multi-hop wireless network to the fiber back-haul. This paper presents an extensive in-home performance measurement of the TFA network to characterize the network performance from user perspective. The results show that the current design need improvement to fulfill user expectation and implementation of wireless mesh network as an access technology for end-users’ broadband access. In addition the paper simulates the effect of directional antenna on the design of such network.
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