Mesh technology and its advantages compared with traditional network structure

Since the birth of network transmission technology in the 1960s, the development of network technology has been extremely rapid. The star-shaped structure, ring-shaped structure, bus structure, distributed structure and tree structure of traditional local area networks all play a role in various fields. One billion people provide a stable network connection and a lot of data traffic. However, there is such a LAN technology, which was born very early, but because of its complicated structure, it has not received much attention. However, with the development of wireless network technology to today, its advantages have been re-emphasized. This kind of network is the Mesh network, that is, the mesh network structure. Today, we will give you a detailed introduction to what kind of technology is the Mesh network.

The development of network technology has brought about tremendous changes in human society. It has made people's communication easier, information transmission has become more convenient, and even contributed to the technological revolution and industrial upgrading. The network has evolved from the early wired network and the military network to the current wireless network and wide area network, which greatly reduced the communication costs between people. From the instant knowledge of the world to the global trading and trading, the global information exchange is truly realized. . However, the traditional LAN technology has a certain bottleneck and limitation in the development process due to technical limitations. The solution to this problem is to “return to the original heart” and re-enter the Mesh network, that is, the network. Network structure.

Before talking about the network structure of Mesh, it is necessary to talk about the basic network topology of the traditional LAN structure that has faced bottlenecks.

The basic structure of a local area network includes a star structure, a ring structure, a bus structure, a distributed structure, a tree structure, and the like. The most common and widely used star structure is the central node as the core, and other nodes are connected to the central node. This structure has higher cost and lower reliability, but its delay is small, the structure is simple and easy to manage. The bus-type structure is that each network device is connected to a bus, and there is no obvious center. The advantage is that the structure is simple and the scalability is good, but the disadvantages are also obvious, such as difficulty in maintenance and difficulty in finding faults of the branch structure. In order to be safer and more efficient in use, most of the operating commercial LANs currently use a combination of multiple network topology modes to maximize the performance of the local area network and avoid obstacles.

For ordinary users, we generally do not care about how the operator's computer room should be arranged. The LAN that can be directly contacted is the network arrangement of the family, the unit or even the community. At present, the typical LAN layout adopts a star structure or a multi-layer star structure. The network is connected through the main router, distributed to each sub-router, and finally connected to different hosts and devices. Such wiring is relatively simple to implement and requires fewer cables. Such layout and layout ideas span the wired and wireless era. For example, in the home, users will access the network from network service providers such as China Telecom and China Unicom, and then use the wireless router to transfer multiple signals or wireless signals for home. Used by multiple wired and wireless devices, this is also a typical star structure.

Basic network topology

The basic structure of a local area network includes a star structure, a ring structure, a bus structure, a distributed structure, a tree structure, and the like. The most common and widely used star structure is the central node as the core, and other nodes are connected to the central node. This structure has higher cost and lower reliability, but its delay is small, the structure is simple and easy to manage. The bus-type structure is that each network device is connected to a bus, and there is no obvious center. The advantage is that the structure is simple and the scalability is good, but the disadvantages are also obvious, such as difficulty in maintenance and difficulty in finding faults of the branch structure. In order to be safer and more efficient in use, most of the operating commercial LANs currently use a combination of multiple network topology modes to maximize the performance of the local area network and avoid obstacles.

For ordinary users, we generally do not care about how the operator's computer room should be arranged. The LAN that can be directly contacted is the network arrangement of the family, the unit or even the community. At present, the typical LAN layout adopts a star structure or a multi-layer star structure. The network is connected through the main router, distributed to each sub-router, and finally connected to different hosts and devices. Such wiring is relatively simple to implement and requires fewer cables. Such layout and layout ideas span the wired and wireless era. For example, in the home, users will access the network from network service providers such as China Telecom and China Unicom, and then use the wireless router to transfer multiple signals or wireless signals for home. Used by multiple wired and wireless devices, this is also a typical star structure.

Home networks typically use the most common star topology

The development of LAN topology such as star structure and bus structure has brought about a big outbreak of the Internet, but its inherent defects have been unavoidable, such as the security and reliability of the data center, and the difficulty of bus layout maintenance. Although the technicians have strengthened the traditional LAN structure by various means and even used the composite topology, the inherent experience is still difficult to guarantee because the inherent problems are not solved.

In order to break through the bottleneck of the traditional LAN structure, in recent years, a network topology that is not new but has not been valued due to technical limitations has come to the forefront. This is the Mesh-mesh network structure.

Typical Mesh (mesh network) structure

Speaking of the word Mesh, the English meaning is very simple, that is, the net, the grid, the mesh. In terms of its basic definition, the topology of a mesh network is that all nodes in the network are connected to each other, and each node is connected to at least two other nodes, and all nodes form an overall network. In the wired era, due to the existence of network cables, it is very difficult to implement a Mesh layout network. However, in the wireless era, due to the shackles of the network cable, and through the application of various new technologies, the layout of the wireless Mesh network is relatively easy.

From the perspective of network topology, wireless Mesh networks have the following characteristics:

Node interconnection: All nodes in the LAN are connected together, and there are multiple connection channels between any two nodes, and there is a clear decentralization situation. The AP is composed of a group of wireless APs distributed in a network. The APs are connected in a point-to-point manner through wireless relay links, and the wireless "hotspots" in the traditional WLAN are expanded into wireless "hot spots" with a large area coverage.

Self-configuration: The AP has automatic configuration and centralized management capabilities in the wireless mesh network, which simplifies network management and maintenance.

Self-healing: The AP in the wireless Mesh network has automatic discovery and winter routing connections, eliminating the impact of single point of failure on the service and providing redundant paths.

High bandwidth: Extends the “hot spot” coverage of traditional WLANs to a wider range of “hot zone” coverage, eliminating the bandwidth degradation caused by the increase of the original WLAN. In addition, with the Mesh structure of the system, the signal can avoid the interference of obstacles, so that the signal transmission is unimpeded and the blind zone is eliminated.

High utilization: High utilization is another technical advantage of Mesh networks. In a single-hop network, a fixed AP is shared by multiple devices. As the number of network devices increases, the AP's communication network availability will drop significantly. In the Mesh network, since each node is an AP, such a problem does not occur at all. Once an AP availability rate drops, the data will automatically reselect an AP for transmission.

Compatibility: Mesh is based on the standard 802.11b/g/n/ac standard and is widely compatible with wireless client terminals.

From an application perspective, the advantages of wireless Mesh networks are also very obvious:

Fast deployment and simple installation

Wireless Mesh networks are faster to deploy and less difficult to install. Since the data is transmitted wirelessly, the user simply takes the device out of the box and connects it to the power supply, and then enters the configuration page. This is because in a wireless Mesh network, except for a small number of node devices that require a network cable and an AP connection, most devices require only one power cable, no network cable and AP connection, and all data is wirelessly transmitted. In this way, not only the connection speed is greatly saved, but also the difficulty of the wired layout is reduced, which is very convenient.

Wireless transmission of data between nodes

Wireless Mesh network's robust performance

We know that in the current common LAN, all data is connected to a single AP for transmission and reception. In a local area network, if there is a central AP, there is only one road for data transmission, so in actual use, it is easy to cause data congestion or failure (such as AP connection disconnection or equipment damage, etc.). However, in a wireless mesh network, due to the characteristics of its multi-hop network, one node can connect to at least two other nodes. When a node is blocked or unresponsive, the wireless mesh network can select other nodes for data transmission according to the situation. In other words, the wireless mesh network has at least one alternate path, so the reliability of data transmission is very high.

Non-line-of-sight transmission

Another feature of wireless mesh networks is the ability to provide non-line-of-sight transmission. The so-called non-line-of-sight transmission refers to providing a transmission function in an area outside the coverage of the original signal. This is also well understood, because each node has the characteristics of simultaneous reception and transmission, which is equivalent to expanding the coverage of the network to a certain extent. For example, a traditional network has only one data sending node, which is the central node that connects to the AP. In the coverage of the central node, data transmission and transmission are effective, but the distance is far away and is invalid.

In a wireless Mesh network, each node is equivalent to a repeater, which is equivalent to expanding the scope of data coverage, and can provide a network for users outside the line of sight of the AP connected to the AP, greatly improving the application field of the wireless network. And coverage.

Flexible structure

In fact, the flexibility of the structure is related to robustness, that is, there is no data blockage or node failure. When data needs to be transmitted between two nodes in a wireless mesh network, the node can automatically select the forwarding path with the fastest response time and high transmission speed Z according to the connection situation and response situation, thereby avoiding node communication congestion. Even for some nodes with extremely high privileges, multiple nodes can be selected at the same time to transmit data to multiple targets at the same time, which greatly saves data transmission time and improves efficiency.

High bandwidth and high transmission efficiency

Bandwidth is always an intractable problem. Because of the characteristics of wireless communication, bandwidth is easy to increase only when the transmission distance is short. However, the transmission distance of data is closely related to the signal strength, while the traditional single-center mode coverage area is limited. Due to the non-line-of-sight transmission characteristics of the wireless Mesh network, the signal coverage is better and the strength is higher, and the total bandwidth is more easily improved. In addition, due to the role of the node relay, the wireless Mesh network signal coverage is excellent, so the power required for transmission is reduced, which is also helpful for energy saving.

Wireless Mesh Network Significantly Improves Signal Coverage

It is not difficult to see from the above description that the advantages of the wireless Mesh network are very prominent. It can solve the problems of the current star-shaped LAN and bus structure LAN, and can also expand more aspects related to security, stability and high bandwidth. The function. If it can be applied to new wireless network products, it is expected to lead the further development of network technology, achieving higher transmission speed and wider signal coverage.

Our company recently launched a series of wireless devices based on Mesh wireless transmission technology, which has the transmission advantages that wireless devices do not have. Full IP design, flexible installation and operation, convenient operation and maintenance, can provide a variety of frequency band customization, expand WIFI, GPS, 3G/4G and other functions to support integrated communication needs. Flexible application to military yong communication private network, public safety private network, emergency communication private network, industry information private network, regional broadband private network, wireless monitoring private network, collaborative management private network and intelligent transmission private network, etc. Anti-kong sudden, public an fa, security activities, emergency rescue, fire command, forest fire prevention, forest area monitoring, civil air defense / earthquake, power inspection, digital oil field, drone group, fleet communication, ship formation, maritime communication, Airport ground handling, subway emergency, road construction, hydrological monitoring, mobile mining, medical and other fields, providing stable, reliable, timely and efficient HD video, multi-channel data, clear voice and visual command and dispatch.

Mesh networks are better than the wireless technologies we use today, both in terms of technology and principles. On the key indicators such as coverage area and performance, the wireless Mesh network relies on its innate structural advantages to bring excellent network coverage, and its development prospects are widely optimistic!