A Meshing we will go

It is now only a matter of time before all our wireless devices will be connected to each other. Much like your Bluetooth device is always looking for new connections, IEEE 802.11s will make it possible for you to mesh your IEEE 802.11 device to other similar devices and create a mesh network between ‘all things wireless” – well at least the large number of them using this protocol.

As a way of introduction to this topic I came across an excellent paper by Guido R. Hiertz et al “IEEE802.11s: The WLAN Mesh Standard” at http://cozybit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ieee-80211s-the-wlan-mesh-standard.pdf that does a very good job of explaining the protocol and its application.

This standard is another of the stepping stones to enabling the ‘connection of things’ that has been discussed for some time and will allow a range of ‘smart appliances’ to talk to each other with minimal configuration by the owners of those appliances. Another small step to making all of us more connected.