Dynamic Channel Assignment and Link Scheduling in Multi-Radio Multi-Channel Wireless Mesh Networks

Abstract

Capacity limitation is one of the fundamental issues in wireless mesh networks. This paper addresses capacity improvement issues in multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks. Our objective is to find a dynamic channel assignment and link schedule that maximizes the network capacity for ftp-type applications and video-type applications, respectively. Specifically, we minimize the number of time slots needed to schedule all the flows for ftp-type applications and maximize the minimal link satisfaction ratio for video-type applications. The problems are formulated as linear programming and we provide two heuristics to solve these problems. One heuristic uses a set covering strategy and the other uses a link-weight- adjusting strategy. We perform a trade-off analysis between network performance and hardware cost based on the number of radios and channels in different topologies. This work provides valuable insights for wireless mesh network designers during network planning and deployment.