Tagus Mesh Network
Table of Contents
Main Information
Project Description: Creation of a Wireless Mesh Network testbed for future research and academic work.
Current status: Researching
Active period: Set. 2012 - Oct. 2013
GEMS team: Joćo Rosa
Supervisor: Prof. Rui Rocha
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Fernando Mira da Silva
Overview: Wireless mesh networking is a promising technology, whose purpose is to enable many useful applications and provide the connectivity in the last mile. This paradigm has been attracting great research interest, meaning the development of new protocols and solutions. One major problem that this research is facing is the lack of platforms which can test these protocols in real-environment situations. Even though simulation is a technology useful for testing and evaluation, its main problem is about not reflecting the impact of realistic wireless propagation and interference conditions.
Objectives: We intend to propose the Tagus Mesh Network (TagusMesh) testbed, a platform of tests for wireless mesh networks (WMN) whose main objective lies on serving the academic community of IST-Taguspark. This system provides a consistent network management complemented by a detailed monitoring and a robust remote configuration tool. It also presents a complex set of tools and a mechanism which enables the reservation of the testbed aiming the efficient usage of the network. More than a testbed, TagusMesh is characterized by its scalability and versatility and also as a foundation for future works and implementations.
Resources: The network is composed by 8 mesh routers which are placed along the second floor of IST-Taguspark. The antennas used to communicate are of two types: directional and omnidirectional. In order to get a better performance, the four nodes of the middle of the network have omnidirectional antennas while the remaining nodes are provided with the directional antennas. The routers are RB 433 UAH from Mikrotik.
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Wireless Site Survey
The study: Before the implementation of this project's features, it was necessary to make an intensive study about the site where the network would be mounted. First, it was fundamental to find a channel which doesn't interfere with the existent "eduroam" WLAN of IST-Taguspark. The channel chosen was the #149 (5,745 Ghz) which is out of the interval of possible channels where eduroam can work. Second, in order to observe the signal's propagation's along the building, an analysis was made through the use of heat maps which show where the radiation is stronger or weaker. The principal objective was to guarantee that the signal's power inside the offices and at the lower floor was weak, which minimizes the risk factor to the people's health.
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