Hierarchical channel assignment in wireless networks

• US 10,440,723 B2
• Filed: 08/30/2017
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, Bo, Hendrick, Mark, Wang, Feng, Pallas, Derrick, Barber, Simon
• Primary Examiner(s): Crompton, Christopher R
• Application Number:
  US15/690,979
• Publication Number:
  US 20180338315A1
• Time in Patent Office: 769 Days
• Field of Search: 370329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosed technology address the problems of calculating and performing channel assignments for access points (APs) in a wireless network. In some aspects, a process for performing channel assignment can include steps for identifying multiple APs in a network, each of the wireless APs being associated with an initial channel assignment, selecting an AP from among the wireless APs in the network, determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the AP, and selecting a new channel for the AP based on the channel quality. In some aspects, the process further includes steps for selecting a second AP, determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP, and selecting a new channel for the second AP based on the channel quality. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for performing channel assignments in a wireless network, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of wireless access points (APs) in the wireless network, each of the wireless APs being associated with an initial channel assignment;

selecting a first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP;

first selecting a first new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP;

selecting a second AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP; and

second selecting a first new channel for the second AP based on the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP;

wherein each of the first and second selecting comprises;

estimating for a particular AP as Node P performance on a channel c with channel width cw using the relationship of

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

identifying one or more one-hop neighbors of the first AP, wherein each of the one or more one-hop neighbors is directly connected to the first AP in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the first new channel associated with the first AP;

determining a channel quality for a respective channel assignment of each of the one-hop neighbors of the first AP; and

selecting a second new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the first new channel associated with the first AP, and the channel quality of the respective channel assignment of each of the one or more one-hop neighbors.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein selecting the second new channel for the first AP further comprises:

selecting a new channel assignment for each of the one-hop neighbors of the first AP.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

selecting the first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

identifying one or more two-hop neighbors of the first AP, wherein each of the one or more two-hop neighbors is connected to the first AP via one other node in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the second new channel associated with the first AP;

determining a channel quality for a respective channel assignment of each of the one or more two-hop neighbors of the first AP; and

selecting a third new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the second new channel associated with the first AP, and the channel quality of the respective channel assignment for each of the one or more two-hop neighbors.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein selecting the third new channel for the first AP further comprises:

selecting a new channel assignment for each of the two-hop neighbors of the first AP.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP is further based on a channel switch penalty.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP is further based on a channel switch penalty.

8. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a network interface coupled to the processors, the network interface configured for exchanging data with a wireless computer network; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising;

identifying a plurality of wireless access points (APs) in the wireless network, each of the wireless APs being associated with an initial channel assignment;

selecting a first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP;

first selecting a first new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP;

selecting a second AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP; and

second selecting a first new channel for the second AP based on the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP;

wherein each of the first and second selecting comprises;

estimating for a particular AP as Node P performance on a channel c with channel width cw using the relationship of

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

selecting the first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

identifying one or more one-hop neighbors of the first AP, wherein each of the one or more one-hop neighbors is directly connected to the first AP in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the first new channel associated with the first AP;

determining a channel quality for a respective channel assignment of each of the one-hop neighbors of the first AP; and

selecting a second new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the first new channel associated with the first AP, and the channel quality of the respective channel assignment of each of the one or more one-hop neighbors.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein selecting the second new channel for the first AP further comprises:

selecting a new channel assignment for each of the one-hop neighbors of the first AP.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

selecting the first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

identifying one or more two-hop neighbors of the first AP, wherein each of the one or more two-hop neighbors is connected to the first AP via one other node in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the second new channel associated with the first AP;

determining a channel quality for a respective channel assignment of each of the one or more two-hop neighbors of the first AP; and

selecting a third new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the second new channel associated with the first AP, and the channel quality of the respective channel assignment for each of the one or more two-hop neighbors.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein selecting the third new channel for the first AP further comprises:

selecting a new channel assignment for each of the two-hop neighbors of the first AP.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein determining the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP is further based on a channel switch penalty.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein determining the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP is further based on a channel switch penalty.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

identifying a plurality of wireless access points (APs) in a wireless network, each of the wireless APs being associated with an initial channel assignment;

selecting a first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP;

first selecting a first new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP;

selecting a second AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP; and

second selecting a first new channel for the second AP based on the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the second AP;

wherein each of the first and second selecting comprises;

estimating for a particular AP as Node P performance on a channel c with channel width cw using the relationship of

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

selecting the first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

identifying one or more one-hop neighbors of the first AP, wherein each of the one or more one-hop neighbors is directly connected to the first AP in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the first new channel associated with the first AP;

determining a channel quality for a respective channel assignment of each of the one-hop neighbors of the first AP; and

selecting a second new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the first new channel associated with the first AP, and the channel quality of the respective channel assignment of each of the one or more one-hop neighbors.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein selecting the second new channel for the first AP further comprises:

selecting a new channel assignment for each of the one-hop neighbors of the first AP.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

selecting the first AP from among the plurality of wireless APs in the wireless network;

identifying one or more two-hop neighbors of the first AP, wherein each of the one or more two-hop neighbors is connected to the first AP via one other node in the wireless network;

determining a channel quality for the second new channel associated with the first AP;

determining a channel quality for a respective channel assignment of each of the one or more two-hop neighbors of the first AP; and

selecting a third new channel for the first AP based on the channel quality for the second new channel associated with the first AP, and the channel quality of the respective channel assignment for each of the one or more two-hop neighbors.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein selecting the third new channel for the first AP further comprises:

selecting a new channel assignment for each of the two-hop neighbors of the first AP.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein determining the channel quality for the initial channel assignment associated with the first AP is further based on a channel switch penalty.