Optimisation of routing protocols for Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) to achieve higher quality of service for real time applications

The existing routing protocols for WMNs (Wireless Mesh Networks) are extensions of protocols originally designed for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) and perform sub-optimally for the mesh connectivity of WMNs which degrades their performance in terms of increased latency in packet delivery, packet drops and decreased network throughput. The proposed research, currently at its inception, would investigate into capacity and limitations of current WMN routing protocols with respect to wireless technologies, platforms and relevant standards in context of routing requirements of identified real-time applications, namely, the disaster management and tele-health applications. The research would optimise the existing routing protocols for WMNs for the proposed applications to achieve higher quality of service, reliability and security of data access to meet their specialist requirements. Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are increasingly being incorporated in disaster management solutions for access to information of disaster situation to improve effectiveness of rescue services. Currently, the routing requirements of disaster solution using WMN has been researched in context of active research project, “iSurvival- Mobile Mesh Networks for Disaster Management” , which utilises specialist applications on smart phones of end-users in the disaster area to establish WMNs using available heterogeneous wireless technologies from 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and others. These WMNs provide resilient and reconfigurable digital infrastructures, with users’ smart phones acting as routers in the connected mesh networks to facilitate routing and forwarding of information in the disaster area