Investigation into Batman-adv Protocol Performance in an Indoor Mesh Potato Testbed

In this paper, we describe the performance of the B.A.T.M.A.N advanced (Batman-adv) protocol on an indoor Mesh Potato (MP) testbed. The MPs are small devices used for voice communications over the wireless medium but also supports data. The Batman-adv protocol is designed for ad hoc wireless networks. We measure delay and packet loss, jitter and throughput in order to understand the MPs network performance. The experiments used packets of varying sizes over multiple hops. We analyze the data to see if the network latency for up to four hops is within the recommended boundaries set by ITU-Recommendation G. 114. We also observe the how the network’s performance is affected by the varying packet sizes. Finally the experiments also reveal the common issues found on the wireless medium and also indoor testbeds

Towards a scalability model for wireless mesh networks

Zenzeleni mesh network is a wireless ad-hoc mesh network that provides voice services using public analogue telephones to the Mankosi community in the Eastern Cape Province. We would like to improve on the network infrastructure by upgrading the mesh routers and introducing low-end smartphones onto the network; and offer both data and voice over Internet protocol services. However, before deploying resources, it is imperative to identify the maximum number of mesh nodes, clients and simultaneous voice over internet protocol calls that can be supported by the mesh network while maintaining acceptable quality of service levels. Absence of such data might lead to financial risk and time depletion when setting up an optimal network. Bolstering the claim are investigations that report drop in quality levels as network density and hop count escalate. As current investigations mostly yield capacity models to predict per-node throughput with increasing hop count, we propose experiments to devise a scalability model to quantify scalability of mesh networks in this paper. We recommend experimental implementations at simulation level in Network Simulator-3 moving on to testbeds built using WiBed, and then finally take results to the field.Telkom, Cisco, Aria Technologies, THRIP, CONFINEDepartment of HE and Training approved lis

Investigation into BATMANd-0.3.2 Protocol Performance in an Indoor Mesh Potato Testbed

In this paper, we describe the performance of the B.A.T.M.A.N daemon (Batmand) protocol on an indoor Mesh Potato (MP) testbed. The MPs are small devices used for voice communications over the wireless medium but also supports data. The batmand protocol is designed for ad hoc wireless networks. We measure delay, packet loss in order to understand the MPs network performance. The experiments used packets of varying sizes over multiple hops. We analyze the data to see if the network latency for up to four hops is within the recommended boundaries set by ITU-Recommendation G. 114. We also observe the how the network’s performance is affected by the varying packet sizes. Finally the experiments also reveal the common issues found on the wireless medium and also indoor testbeds

Routing Protocols for Meshed Communication, Networks Targeting Communication Quality of Service (QoS) in Rural Areas

Rural areas in Africa often have poor telecommunication infrastructure. Mobile phones, if available, are frequently unaffordable to most users. Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) offer an alternative possibility of low cost voice and data communications. The focus of this research is a laboratory study of WMNs that mimic conditions found in rural areas. This work investigates routing strategies for the Mesh Potato (MP). The MP is an effective alternative communication technology that has minimal configuration requirements, low cost of deployment, low power consumption and resilience that make it an attractive choice for rural areas. The MP runs a new mesh networking algorithm called the better approach to mobile ad hoc networking (B.A.T.M.A.N or Batman). This allows a WMN to be established in which users can use plain old telephones to talk to each other using Voice over IP (VoIP). Batman daemon (Batmand) is the implementation of Batman algorithm used by the MP. Batmand is a minimalistic routing protocol which performs well in laboratory experiments. The question raised is whether adding more service specific routing metrics improve the quality of service (QoS) observed in Batmand network in practice. The research investigates delay, packet loss, throughput and jitter as performance parameters (metrics) that may serve as options to improve the simplistic Batman algorithms route selection process. These metrics are essential for QoS in voice- and data-sensitive networks. Specific focus was given to delay and it is the metric added to Batmand. In addition the research examines how well the different applications such as voice and data are supported on the Batmand network under different routing scenarios. The research approach adopted in this dissertation was experimental and an indoor testbed was created to replicate the basic scenarios encountered in the rural environment. The essential characteristics found in the Mdumbi region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, were taken as a case study in this dissertation. The testbed was used to compare the original Batman algorithm implemented as Batmand, referred to here as O-Batmand, routing protocol and the resultant Batmand version obtained from the addition of the delay-routing metric called modified Batmand (M-Batmand). The research produced a number of findings. As the number of hops increased the per-formance of the network decreased for both protocols. O-Batmand is well suited for the task of routing packets inside a wireless network. It is designed and works for voice packets and supports data services. This is also true for the M-Batmand implementation. M-Batmand was developed as an improvement to the O-Batmand implementation at the cost of increased complexity, experienced by the protocol through modifications of its route selection process. The modification involved adding network delay values to its route selection process. This addition resulted in a protocol that is delay sensitive; however, the overall performance gains were inexistent. The main conclusions drawn from this study are that O-Batmand cannot be modified to include additional metrics and be expected to improve its performance. Second conclusion is that M-Batmand did not improve the overall performance of the O-Batmand protocol. The addition of the delay metric actually hindered O-Batmand's performance to the extent that no overall performance gains were realised. Sources of performance degradations are: increased overhead, from added delay data, in the network control packets called originator messages (OGMs). M-Batmand performs calculation which O-Batmand did not increasing CPU cycle needs. Lastly upon further internal protocol investigation it is seen that the rate of route delay data updates is slower than the original metric used by the protocol. This creates route fluctuations as route selection process will change when the updated delay values are added and change again when there are not as the network obtains the updated delay data. Both protocols support voice and data, however, the results show that the quality of the network deteriorates in the testbed with increasing hops. This affects voice more so then it does data as routes become more unstable with each increasing hop. Further Batmand is best at supporting voice and data as it outperforms M-Batmand in the laboratory experiments conducted. This dissertation argues that while there may exist one or a combination of metrics amongst the researched list (delay, packet loss, throughput and jitter) that may actually improve the performance of the protocol, it is extremely hard to realize such gains in practice

Clustered Multi-layer Multi-protocol Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) have emerged as an alternative option to the wired networks in areas where wired deployment is unfeasible and/or costly. They have been widely adopted in community networks as these networks are mostly built within “not for profit” projects and do not require enterprise class investment which can lead to inefficient network architectures and routing protocol designs. B.A.T.M.A.N-ADV has been designed as a simple routing protocol that adheres to lightweight equipment requirements of wireless mesh deployment in the rural areas of the developing countries. However, it is built around a flat WMN topology which is challenged with scalability, security and implementation issues; which can limit WMN growth and services expansion. This paper proposes and evaluates the performance of a new multi-layer, multi-protocol WMN architecture that addresses B.A.T.M.A.N-ADV scalability issues by borrowing from wired networks their clustering model and building around the B.A.T.M.A.N Experimental (BMX6) protocol to introduce layer2 tunnelling through a cloud of layer3 routers.Telkom, Cisco, Aria Technologies, THRIPDepartment of HE and Training approved lis

Performance Comparison of BATMANd and BATMAN-adv

The B.A.T.M.A.N routing algorithm is a routing solution for ad hoc wireless networks. Two of these branches, Batmand and Batman-adv are the most commonly used as the default routing protocols on the Mesh Potato's (MP). The MPs are devices that use VoIP to communicate over the air with each other. These devices are the most common use of the Batman routing protocols and there are no performance tests conducted on the devices. Furthermore, there are no performance tests that can conclusively tell us which of the two branches is the better one and should serve as the first choice on the MPs. This paper highlights the differences between the protocols theoretically and describes a testbed in order to measure performances of the routing protocols

BATMAN Adv. Mesh network emulator

We introduce a new network emulator environment, developed by our research group, called the BAMNE. Our emulator is designed specifically to allow working with BATMAN Adv. mesh protocols. This mesh network emulator facilitates doing tests with BATMAN Adv. protocol and evaluate and debug mesh networks. The emulated wireless equipment runs in virtual machines using VirtualBox, and the wireless links are simulated with Vde-switch. Vde-switch allows simulating impediments in the link transmission like loss of bits, packet loss, delay. To construct the emulation environment, python language was used.X Workshop Arquitectura, Redes y Sistemas Operativos (WARSO)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

BATMAN Adv. Mesh network emulator

We introduce a new network emulator environment, developed by our research group, called the BAMNE. Our emulator is designed specifically to allow working with BATMAN Adv. mesh protocols. This mesh network emulator facilitates doing tests with BATMAN Adv. protocol and evaluate and debug mesh networks. The emulated wireless equipment runs in virtual machines using VirtualBox, and the wireless links are simulated with Vde-switch. Vde-switch allows simulating impediments in the link transmission like loss of bits, packet loss, delay. To construct the emulation environment, python language was used.X Workshop Arquitectura, Redes y Sistemas Operativos (WARSO)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Evaluación de protocolos de encaminamiento en una red inalámbrica mallada desplegada en una zona rural

The implementation of wireless communication systems in rural areas through the deployment of data networks in infrastructure mode is often inadequate due to its high cost and no fault tolerant centralized structure. Mesh networks can overcome these limitations while increases the coverage area in a more flexible way. This paper proposes the performance evaluation of the routing protocols IEEE 802.11s and Batman-Adv on an experimental wireless mesh network deployed in a rural environment called Lachocc, which is a community located at 4700 MASL in the Huancavelica region in Peru. The evaluation was based on the measurement of quality of service parameters such as bandwidth, delay and delay variation. As a result, it was determined that both protocols offer a good performance, but in most of the cases, Batman-Adv provides slightly better performanc

Voice and rural wireless mesh community networks: a framework to quantify scalability and manage end-user smartphone battery consumption

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDCommunity wireless mesh initiatives are a pioneering option to cheap ‘last-mile’ access to network services for rural low-income regions primarily located in Sub-Saharan Africa and Developing Asia. However, researchers have criticized wireless mesh networks for their poor scalability; and scalability quantification research has mostly consisted of modularization of per-node throughput capacity behaviour. A scalability quantification model to design wireless mesh networks to provide adequate quality of service is lacking. However, scalability quantification of community mesh networks alone is inadequate because rural users need affordable devices for access; and they need to know how best to use them. Low-cost low-end smartphones offer handset affordability solutions but require smart management of their small capacity battery. Related work supports the usage of Wi-Fi for communication because it is shown to consume less battery than 2G, 3G or Bluetooth. However, a model to compare Wi-Fi battery consumption amongst different low-end smartphones is missing, as is a comparison of different over-the-top communication applications