Accurate Assessment of Link Loss Rate in Wireless Mesh Networks

A number of routing metrics have been proposed to select a path with better performance in wireless mesh networks. Most of them partially rely on link loss rates when evaluating the paths´ performance. Thus it is essential to accurately measure the link loss rate. Currently, a broadcast based probe mechanism is commonly used by routing metrics to estimate the link loss rates. However, this mechanism often yields inaccurate link loss rates. Based on our extensive simulations, we find out that the limitations of this mechanism are due to: 1) the use of basic (lowest) data rates to probe the loss rate while the link might be used with a higher data rate; 2) the assumption that links are symmetric, which is not true in real case; 3) the low number of packet probes used to measure the link loss rate. This work proposes appropriate solutions to the above weaknesses. Our experimental results indicate that the proposed modifications are able to measure the link loss rate with more accuracy.