Extending the FLExible Network Tester (Flent) for IEEE 802.11s WLAN Mesh Networks

Mesh networks based on the wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, as specified by the standards amendment IEEE 802.11s, provide for a flexible and low-cost interconnection of devices and embedded systems for various use cases. To assess the real-world performance of WLAN mesh networks and potential optimization strategies, suitable testbeds and measurement tools are required. Designed for highly automated transport-layer throughput and latency measurements, the software FLExible Network Tester (Flent) is a promising candidate. However, so far Flent does not integrate information specific to IEEE 802.11s networks, such as peer link status data or mesh routing metrics. Consequently, we propose Flent extensions that allow to additionally capture IEEE 802.11s information as part of the automated performance tests. For the functional validation of our extensions, we conduct Flent measurements in a mesh mobility scenario using the network emulation framework Mininet-WiFi.