An optimization model to minimize the expected end-to-end transmission time in wireless mesh networks

Abstract

Time metrics are extremely important to evaluate the transmission performance on Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs), whose main characteristic is to use multihop technology to extend the network coverage area. One of such metrics is WCETT (Weighted Cumulative Expected Transmission Time), in which transmission times per hop are weighted for both proactive and reactive conditions. Furthermore, such metrics are able to detect delays that can degrade some network services. This paper presents an optimization model to minimize WCETT in a WMN, subject to constraints grouped by bandwidth, flow control and power control. As the model includes nonlinear constraints, we propose a heuristic to solve it, which divides the problem in two subproblems. The first subproblem maximizes the network link capacity and a Simulated Annealing algorithm is used to solve it. Considering the link capacities obtained, the second subproblem minimizes the WCETTs, which is formulated as a linear programming model. Some numerical results are presented, based on instances of WMNs randomly generated. Some of these results are compared with the results obtained by a commercial simulator in order to verify the coherence of the proposed heuristic for realistic scenarios.