A hybrid loop-free routing protocol for wireless mesh networks

A loop-free routing protocol for wireless mesh networks that uses two hybrid methods to solve routing loop problems is proposed. The hybrid methods are as follows: 1) dynamic and static metrics and 2) reactive routing protocol RREQ/RREP mechanisms and proactive methods. The proposed protocol adopts incremental routing to construct routes in the initial state. Simulation evaluations indicate that routing loops occurred when existing routing protocols, such as OLSR, were used. In addition, throughput and communication delay fluctuated significantly with existing methods. No routing loops occurred with the proposed protocol. The proposed protocol achieves stable transition of throughput and low communication delay.