Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are an active area of research and are believed to be the next step in the evolution of the wireless architecture due to their relatively low costs, flexibility in the hardware and software options, ease of deployment, self-configuration and self-healing properties. In this talk I will briefly mention about the key enabling software and hardware technologies for 802.11 mesh networks, discuss some of the currently available platforms for realizing a WMN deployment and I will try to describe zIpzIp, an 802.11b/g WMN testbed that we have deployed on the fourth floor of the engineering building. After introducing zIpzIp, I will talk about the experiments we are conducting which mainly consist of single-hop and multi-hop application level throughput measurements in the absence and presence of sources of interference. I will conclude the talk by our future research plans on this testbed.

DATE: 19 November, 2007, Monday@ 16:15
PLACE: EA 409