An open wireless mesh testbed architecture with data collection and software distribution platform

Abstract—A Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is a fast growing network, which is now a popular technology for providing wireless internet connection to industry as well as community. A WMN is a collection of nodes (usually a computer with one or more wireless Network Interface Cards (NICs)) that are connected to one another with single or multiple hop ad hoc links forming a mesh backbone network. Ad hoc links are popular in mesh connectivity as they are self-configuring and self-healing. In this paper, we discuss WMN design and deployment issues with reference to our WiSEMesh testbed. WiSEMesh has 56 nodes deployed in the campus area providing internet connection for over 1000 users. Each node consists of a small form factor computer with three wireless NICs. We developed the WiSEMesh node software stack that contains unix based operating system, wireless NIC drivers, tools such as DHCP server, NAT etc