A New Multi-Channel MAC Protocol Combined with On-Demand Routing for Wireless Mesh Networks

Multiple channels can increase network capacity by transmitting traffic on different channels in an interference area. Channel assignment is a critical issue for the multi-channel scheme. In this paper, we propose an efficient distributed channel assignment algorithm for multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks. This scheme seeks to assign distinct channel to each node along the same route, subject to a channel availability constraint. Nodes in two-hop neighborhood which belong to two different routes are assigned distinct channel too. Thus, interference along neighboring nodes which belong to same route and different route can be reduced. The proposed scheme combines channel assignment with reactive routing protocol. This scheme exhibits significantly lower communication, computation complexity than existing channel assignment schemes. Simulation results show that this proposed scheme can improve performance of the multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks greatly.