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WiMesh: leveraging mesh networking for disaster communication in resource-constrained settings

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Abstract

This paper discusses the design, implementation and field trials of WiMesh, a resilient wireless mesh network-based disaster communication system purpose-built for underdeveloped and rural parts of the world. Mesh networking is a mature area, and the focus of this paper is not on proposing novel models, protocols or other mesh solutions. Instead, the paper focuses on the identification of important design considerations and justifications for several design trade offs in the context of mesh networking for disaster communication in developing countries with very limited resources. These trade-offs are discussed in the context of key desirable traits including security, low cost, low power, size, availability, customization, portability, ease of installation and deployment, and coverage area among others. We discuss at length the design, implementation, and field trial results of the WiMesh system which enables users spread over large geographical regions, to communicate with each other despite the lack of cellular coverage, power, and other communication infrastructure by leveraging multi-hop mesh networking and Wi-Fi equipped handheld devices. Lessons learned along with real-world results are shared for WiMesh deployment in a remote rural mountainous village of Pakistan, and the source code is shared with the research community.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend their thanks to the National ICT R & D Fund Pakistan for providing the financial support towards this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computer Science and Information Technology, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

    Usman Ashraf

  2. Department of Information Systems, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

    Amir Khwaja

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology University of Punjab (ITU), Lahore, Pakistan

    Junaid Qadir

  4. Department of Computer Engineering, University of Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy

    Stefano Avallone

  5. Department of Engineering Product Development (EPD), Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore

    Chau Yuen

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  1. Usman Ashraf
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  2. Amir Khwaja
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  3. Junaid Qadir
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  5. Chau Yuen
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Correspondence to Junaid Qadir.

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Ashraf, U., Khwaja, A., Qadir, J. et al. WiMesh: leveraging mesh networking for disaster communication in resource-constrained settings. Wireless Netw 27, 2785–2812 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-021-02621-2

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