Adaptive allocation algorithm for multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks

Abstract

The wireless mesh network (WMN) has proven to be a great choice for network communication technology. WMNs are composed of access points (APs) that are installed and communicate with each other through multi-hop wireless networks. One or more of these APs acts as a gateway (GW) to the internet. Hosts of WMNs are stationary or mobile. According to the structure of WMNs, some network features may be affected, such as the overall performance, channel interference, and AP connectivity. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive channel allocation algorithm for a multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh network. The algorithm is aimed to minimize the number of channel reassignments while maximizing the performance under practical constraints. The algorithm defines a decision function for the channel reassignments. The decision function aims to minimize the traffic around the GW. Whenever the traffic changes in the wireless mesh network, the decision function decides which channel radio reassignment should be done. We demonstrated the effectiveness of our algorithm through extensive simulations using Network Simulator 2 (NS-2).