Security in Wireless Mesh Networks

Introduction

            A wireless mesh network popularly abbreviated as WMN is a mesh network that is created through the connection of several access points that are installed at each locale of the network user. In this case, each of the network users is also a provider where it does so by forwarding data from one node to the next. There is decentralization and simplification of the networking infrastructure since each of the nodes is required to transmit as far as the next node. Wireless mesh networking could give the people living in the remote areas and small business operators in rural neighborhood the capability to connect their networks together for the Internet connections that they could afford (Akyildiz & Wang, 2009).

            The architecture of wireless mesh networks is the first step towards providing the users with cost-effective and dynamic high-bandwidth networks over a certain area of coverage. A wireless mesh network infrastructure is a composition of network of routers without the cabling between the nodes. The infrastructure is build up peer radio devices that are not cabled to a wired port similar to the WLAN access points. Wireless mesh network infrastructure transmits data over large distances through splitting of the distance into several short hops. Besides the intermediate nodes boosting the signal, the also cooperatively pass data from one point to another by making forwarding decisions based on the knowledge of the network they have. This type of architecture may provide high bandwidth, spectral efficiency, and various economic benefits over the area of coverage.

            The management of wireless mesh networks can either happen at a central point or it can be decentralized. However, both managements are cheap, reliable, and resilient because the transmission between the node and the next node. The nodes in this network act as routers whereby they transmit data from only the nearby nodes to the far away peers and they reach in a single hop. The result is the network that spans large distances. Wireless mesh networks may be applied either in fixed or mobile devices. Their solutions are as diverse as the needs of the communication. Wireless mesh networks may be used in hostile environment such as emergency situations, oil rigs, tunnels, battlefield surveillance, and real-time racing car telemetry among others (Avula, Lee, & Yoo, 2014).

            The emergence of wireless mesh networks is perceived as the solution to the next generation wireless communication networks due to its ability to provide flexible, adaptive, and reconfigurable architecture. Additionally, it offers cost-effective business network solutions to the service providers. As the wireless mesh networks become the most popular among the wireless networking technologies, it is imperative to design secure communication protocols for the networks. However, the loopholes that result from the broadcast nature of transmission in the wireless medium lead to security vulnerabilities that external and an internal attacker could exploit. I will take part in the identification and defending of these attacks in a network service provider company. This is a critical requirement for the networks in a bid to have sustained networks services that satisfies the quality of services of the user applications. Additionally, there are cases of compromise of the user privacy. Therefore, protecting the privacy of the user will also be among the critical requirements that our team at the organization will be dealing with (Choi & Han, 2010).

Methodology

            Action research (AR) is a research model that is made up of the process of learning and acting on what one has learned. AR involves carrying out a series of inquiry on the matters related to the field of research. The action researchers associate with experts in the process of data and information collection to improve the societal or business activities that require improvements. AR focuses on having a comprehensive understanding of the practices and the situation at hand within the organization or the society. Besides the mentioned features of AR, it has other specific attributes that differentiate it from other traditional research models (Cochrane-Smith & Lytle, 1993).

            One of the attributes through which AR is differentiated from traditional models of research is that it introduces the practitioner to the real-life practices. The other attribute of AR is the collaborative nature of the researchers or the researchers and the participants throughout the process. The participants and the researchers collaborate actively where the participants learn ways of handling issues either in the organization or the society. Besides that, AR also includes the wide acquisition of knowledge. The researcher and participants acquire new knowledge by learning new insights, ideas, skills, and experience to conduct the research and develop new inventions within the process that are linked to the environment in which they are conducting AR. AR also helps the practitioners to act on the findings of the process. The practitioners can implement the change by acting on the findings and the data collected during the process. This is essentially the function of AR without which it would not be AR but another model of traditional research (Hollingsworth, 1997).

History of AR

            AR as a methodology of inquiry was an invention of Kurt Lewin, German social psychologist based in the United States in 1946. Kurt Lewin described AR as a series of continuous steps that follow iterative spiral actions. The iterative spiral actions are made up of four main phases of planning, action, observation, and reflection of the outcomes of the action. The last phases are validation and evaluation stages. According to the studies, AR evolved since its first mention by Kurt Lewin in 1946. Furthermore, same studies show that all the other models of scientific methods in the education fields borrow heavily from AR. However, the original principles as invented by Kurt Lewin are still useful in shaping the modern AR in finding solutions to the societal or organizational problems. It would have been unwise if modern AR and scientific methods had gone against the original definition of AR (Hoepfl, 1997).

Suitability of AR

            AR helps in developing ideas for the solution of the organizational or societal problems enabled by the thorough process it undergoes. AR supports societal, and organization changes by upgrading the systems and way of doing things. Therefore, AR is the most suitable methodology for improving the security in the wireless mesh networks. The researcher will gather information needed in achieving what he would like to the end of the process. Furthermore, the AR will enable the implementation of the security at the wireless mesh networks to proceed through the four phases of AR of planning, action, observation, and reflection. Therefore, the researcher will have split the tasks in the process into manageable tasks thereby allowing comprehensive inquiry into the process of security implementation in wireless mesh networks (Pedretti, 1997).

References

Akyildiz, I. F., & Wang, X. (2009). Wireless mesh networks. Hoboken: Wiley & Sons        Publishers.

Avula, M., Lee, S.-G., & Yoo, S.-M. (2014). Security framework for hybrid wireless mesh            protocol in wireless mesh networks. KSII Transactions on Internet and Information        Systems (TIIS), 8 (6), 1982-2004.

Choi, H.-g., & Han, S.-j. (2010). Domain load balancing routing for multi-gateway wireless          mesh networks. Wireless Networks: The Journal of Mobile Communication,             Computation, and Information, 16 (8), 2105-2122.

Cochrane-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1993). Inside/outside: Teacher research and knowledge. New    York: Teachers College Press.

Hoepfl, M. C. (1997). Choosing qualitative research: A primer for technology education researchers. Journal of Technology Education, 9 (1), 47-63.

Hollingsworth, S. (1997). International action research: A case book for educational reform.         London: Falmer Press.

Pedretti, E. (1997). Septic tank crisis: A case study of science, technology, and social education   in elementary school. International Journal of Science Education, 19 (10), 1211-1230.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in article critique writing service if you need a similar paper you can place your order for top research paper writing companies.