Cross-Layer QoS Support in the IEEE 802.16 Mesh Network

In this paper, we propose a framework for QoS support in the IEEE 802.16 Mesh network. For performance improvement over the two basic scheduling schemes recommended in the standard, centralized and distributed scheduling, the framework adopts the idea of BS-controlled route selection and delay-based scheduling. Core mechanisms including mapping of IP QoS classes to 802.16 QoS types, admission control, minimal-delay-first route selection, tag-based fast routing, and delay-based scheduling are proposed and presented in the paper. Simulation study has shown that the average delay as well as the variation of delay per hop in the proposed scheme is smaller than that of the distributed scheme and much smaller than that of the centralized scheme. Furthermore, the proposed scheme can also achieve higher throughput (under heavy input load) than the contrasts and generate much smaller signaling overhead.