Impact of IEEE 802.11 PHY/MAC Strategies on Routing Performance in Wireless Mesh Networks

Current routing mechanisms proposed for adhocnetworks are still feasibly applied in Wireless Mesh Networks given their similarities. Many researchers have conducted numerous simulations for comparing the performances of these routing protocols under various conditions and constraints. Most made comparisons are not aware of PHY/MAC layers and their impact on routing performances. In this paper we study through simulations the impact of PHY/MAC protocols on higher layers. The considered protocols include three propagation models, i.e., Free Space, TwoRayGround and Shadowing, three different PHY/MAC protocols specified IEEE 802.11 standards namely, 802.11b, 802.11s and 802.11n, and finally three routing protocols, i.e., AODV, OLSR and HWMP. In a comparative way, we investigate the effectiveness of these protocols when they coexist on a wireless mesh network environment. Our results show that the routing strategy can significantly impact the network performance only if it is strongly linked to the characteristics of the lower layers.