Abstract:

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) represent a class of decentralized, self-organizing wireless systems widely adopted for real-time communication and broadband access in heterogeneous environments. In WMNs, multiple mesh routers and client nodes collaborate to relay data across multi-hop links through wireless access points (WAPs). The distributed nature of WMNs enables robust connectivity without relying on centralized infrastructure, making them suitable for applications such as community broadband, disaster recovery, and industrial IoT. Despite their flexibility, WMNs suffer from significant latency and packet loss due to dynamic topologies, node mobility, and multi-hop data forwarding. As the number of nodes increases within a given coverage region, data hopping and link disruptions lead to degraded Quality of Service (QoS), particularly in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications where delay and jitter directly affect speech quality. In such cases, if an intermediate node fails, data packets must reroute through alternative hops, increasing end-to-end delay and reducing packet delivery performance. To address these challenges, this study proposes a Hybrid Routing Protocol (HRP) designed to enhance VoIP performance in WMNs by integrating intelligent node selection and adaptive path optimization. The HRP operates through three major phases: (1) Active Node Selection (ANS) for optimized node deployment and coverage control; (2) Hopfield Neural Network (HNN) for predictive route selection based on learned network dynamics; and (3) Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for dynamic path recovery under uncertain link conditions. The proposed HRP is simulated under varying node densities and distances to evaluate its adaptability and reliability. Comparative performance analysis against conventional routing protocols demonstrates that HRP achieves superior packet delivery ratio (PDR), lower end-to-end delay, and higher throughput, making it an efficient routing solution for real-time VoIP applications over Wireless Mesh Networks.