HYBRID ROUTING PROTOCOL FOR WIRELESS MESH NETWORKS

DOI: 10.31673/2412-4338.2026.019016

Authors

Abstract

The efficiency of wireless mesh networks critically depends on the link-layer routing protocol, which works with MAC addresses and must adapt to changing topology, interference, traffic patterns, and quality of service requirements. The paper analyzes existing methods of hybridizing routing in mesh networks, defines requirements for the L2 protocol, develops an architecture of a hybrid protocol that includes a neighbor discovery module, formulates an optimization problem for maximizing the total utility of a route under linear QoS constraints, performs a mathematical analysis of the average delivery delay, control load, convergence time, allowable load, and stability conditions using exponential smoothing of metrics to prevent "flickering" of modes, identifies weaknesses of the protocol, and identifies prospects for improvement. The proposed protocol limits the proactive zone, providing linear scaling of local OGM traffic and quadratic scaling only for periodic global updates. Mathematical models allow calculating the average delay as a weighted sum depending on the probability of proactive mode, the total control load, the convergence time and the stability conditions. Theoretical calculations demonstrate a 50–80% reduction in overhead compared to BATMAN in large networks, faster local convergence, better adaptation to traffic and full QoS support. Comparison with other protocols confirms the advantages in mobile and heterogeneous scenarios. Possible time loops when switching modes (probability ~0.1 at high mobility), dependence on the accuracy of metrics, increased implementation complexity, computational costs on IoT devices and lack of built-in cryptography (vulnerability to black hole attacks, DoS). The results obtained indicate that HMP is an effective solution for highly loaded dynamic mesh networks.

Keywords: mesh network, hybrid routing, BATMAN, HWMP, L2 protocol, QoS.

References

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Published

2026-04-01

Issue

No. 1 (2026)

Section

Articles