Channel assignment in ad-hoc networks using a common channel: Algorithms and metrics

The capacity of ad-hoc networks can be easily increased by the use of multiple radios. This consists of equipping the nodes with several wireless interfaces and assigning orthogonal channels to each of them. As the optimal channel assignment which minimizes interference is NP-hard, we propose and compare a set of heuristics. We consider different metrics to compare these algorithms, from the size of the conflict graph to the real throughput measured within NS-3 simulator. Our algorithms perform as well as the optimal when the number of radios and channels are small, whereas there is a noticeable difference when for small number of radios there is great number of channels. Also, we show that in our context, the classical conflict graph metric is not accurate to determine the algorithm which maximizes the network capacity.