13

Many common IoT communication protocols I've researched have adopted a mesh topology (for example ZigBee, Thread and Z-Wave), which is a significant contrast to the usual star topology of Wi-Fi, where every device connects to one router/hub.

EETimes also state that:

Mesh networking is emerging as an ideal design solution for interconnecting a large number of network devices.

EETimes suggest that reliability improvements (e.g. self-healing transmissions) are one of the main advantages of a mesh network, though this seems like a small advantage compared to the added complexity of setting up a mesh network.

For a home IoT network which is likely to contain about 10-20 networked devices and spread a short range from end-to-end, what makes mesh networks more suitable than a regular star topology? Is the added complexity not as significant as I seem to believe it is?

3 Answers 3

11

TL;DR: Economics

Wired mesh network vs. star topology

Well, the Internet is a mesh network. Why? Because DARPA wanted it to work even if half the United States were bombed into oblivion if the cold war was going hot. The military wanted a highly reliable network that is not dependent on any single node. Meshing or at least partial meshing your network nodes will give you that reliability. The major drawback of (wired) mesh networks is that they are not very cost efficient. They cost a lot. Cabling every component to every other component is just too expensive. So the WAN backbone of the Internet of Things is already a wired mesh network.

Star topology is needs just one cable per node, while meshing uses up to n*(n-1)/2 for a full mesh. The cabling for mesh networks gets a lot more expensive very fast. Thus, star topology emerged as the dominant standard.

Now (mostly) new, wireless mesh networks

Establishing wireless mesh networks circumvents the major drawback of wired mesh networks. There is no cabling cost to create a wireless mesh network. Thus, creating wireless mesh networks pairs the reliability network creators always wanted with the low cost of few cables and of course all the other advantages of being wireless.

However there are still a few drawbacks of mesh networks. Nodes have to be relatively smart for the routing compared to simply connecting to one central node. ZigBee uses Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing, which requires routing tables at each node. Also a certain duplex capability of the nodes is required to make the network efficient. Bringing that on a low-cost, wireless-capable microchip took some time. Today we have those chips.

For a mesh network to work properly there have to be enough nodes. It actually gets more efficient with more nodes (that connect to at least two existing ones). Thus, the Internet of Things were everything can act as a node is an obvious match for meshed networks. While other topologies would possibly clog up with more nodes mesh networks really start to shine there and get faster and more reliable the more nodes are added.

Your 10-20 node network

For a smart home setting with one or two dozen devices there are a few things to consider regarding topology. Firstly, ZigBee actually supports star topology as well. Secondly, any sort of distance vector routing usually works with weighted vector values. Thus, in a smart home setting the direct connection could very well be rated highest and you'll end up with a defact star topology even when it's configured as a mesh.

Only the device that are out of range of a central component like a Hue Bridge (or rate the direct connection bad enough) will even make use of the mesh topology. For these devices mesh networking is essentially a low latency range extension for your network. Thus, you don't have to buy another central node. That saves money. So the same thing that killed wide spread wired mesh networks before makes wireless mesh networks so attractive today. Economics.

8

Mesh networks tend to give better local configuration options for an IoT network. Range extension was already mention which the mesh network as each device in the network will help make the network bigger than each device would be alone. Another important aspect is how the messages are routed. While some devices will remain stationary, others may be moved around. This could make routing messages in a typical way difficult, but a mesh network will be able to handle it better as all the nodes will be able to look for the device in question.

A practical example of this in work is in a ZWave network you can rediscover all the nodes in your network so the controller and other nodes can figure out the best path for messages and which nodes can talk to which with and without relaying the message on a different device. More information on this can be seen on this page on the "Mesh and Routing" section.

5

IoT is often used in home automation contexts (door sensors, wallplugs,...) and they tend to be very far each other especially in big houses. So a mesh network allows objets to cover the distance problem.

Also, all these IoT devices must run low on energy so they must not waste it on long distance communications.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.