The capacity of MIMO-based wireless mesh networks

Data transmission in wireless mesh networks (WMNs) has a multi-hop nature where data is originated/destinated to one source/sink node. Therefore, the transmission capacity at the physical layer depends on multiple factors such as the network topology, the access policy, and the transmission configuration. When multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology is used at the physical layer of each node, the nodes that are geographically in the same transmission range, can transmit simultaneously. The different transmissions can be separated spatially using one of the decoding MIMO methods. In this paper, we investigate the per-node capacity in a WMN using MIMO links. We introduce the problem of the transmission configuration in WMNs, defined as the number of transmit antennas used at each node, and its effect on the network capacity. The goal of this study is to provide ideas for network architects about how to dimension wireless mesh networks in order to have an optimal capacity with minimal equipment requirements.