Communication models for throughput optimization in mesh networks

There has been extensive research focused on maximizing the throughput of wireless networks in general and mesh networks in particular. Recently, techniques have been developed that reliably compute the maximum throughput of mesh networks. However, different approaches to throughput optimization make different assumptions on the physical layer's abilities. These assumptions are encapsulated in the communication model. This paper defines and compares a number of communication models, and proposes a general SINR Protocol Model which can apply the graph-based computation techniques and quite accurately represent the interference. Even ignoring the multi-conflicts, the performance of computed schedule from SINR Protocol Model is close to the theoretical throughput when applied to a realistic physical layer. Moreover, when techniques to correct the multi-conflicts are used, the actual performance is no worse than the theoretical performance.