Gateway designation for timely communications in instant mesh networks

In this paper, we explore how to effectively create and use ¿instant mesh networks¿, i.e., wireless mesh networks that are dynamically deployed in temporary circumstances (e.g., emergency responses) - in addition to enabling coverage for internal on-site communications, such a network will support information flow into and out of the deployment site through its gateway (i.e., the mesh router that connects to the external backhaul). We study optimizing the performance of communications (specifically in terms of latency) in an instant mesh network by intelligently selecting the gateway. We demonstrate that designating the proper gateway significantly enhances the timeliness of communications with the external backhaul. We mathematically model the ¿gateway designation problem¿ using the notion of centrality from graph theory. We propose a distributed algorithm, FACE (Fast Approximate Center Exploration), for locating the optimal gateway. FACE is an approximate algorithm that works in an efficient manner without compromising the optimality of solutions. A thorough performance evaluation shows that the gateways designated by FACE reduce latencies by up to 92% for various types of communications, and that FACE saves transmission cost and execution time by up to 71% in finding the gateways.