A graph theoretical algorithm for virtual MIMO channel selection in wireless sensor networks

In this paper we investigate a methodology named channel selection with the aim of balancing the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) advantage and the complexity of node cooperations for wireless sensor networks (WSN). In respect of cross-layer design, we propose the Maximum Spanning Tree Searching (MASTS) algorithm to select a set of subchannels that always provide a path connecting all sensors. The performances are analyzed through Monte Carlo simulation in terms of capacity, diversity gain, bit error rate (BER) and multiplexing gain. It is shown that MASTS channel selection can achieve satisfying performances compared to those of full virtual MIMO with reduced resource consumption.