Using Directional Antennas on Stub Wireless Mesh Networks: Impact on Throughput, Delay, and Fairness

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs), which feature infrastructureless broadband network configurations, are attracting attention as an elemental technology when it comes to the extension of current WLAN infrastructures. State of the art solutions addressing WMNs usually assume the use of omnidirectional antennas. In this paper we evaluate the performance improvements obtained when using directional antennas. By using simulations, we analyze the gains in terms of throughput, delay and fairness, considering a grid network topology used to extend an infrastructure network. Simulation results show that by changing the type of antenna in use from omnidirectional to directional, the average throughput of a WMN can increase about 56% and the average network delay can be reduced by approximately 40%, without compromising fairness.