Joint channel assignment and routing in wireless networks
First Claim
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1. A device that functions as a wireless node in an ad hoc wireless network, the device comprising:
- a plurality of heterogeneous radios to communicate wirelessly over at least one link on at least one channel of the ad hoc wireless network; and
a channel cost metric (CCM) determiner configured to determine a CCM value, the CCM determiner comprising;
an expected transmission time (ETT) determiner to determine an ETT value, the ETT value being a unit of time calculated as a function of collision probability on the link, traffic loading on the link, expected total traffic on the link, and average transmission time of one data frame across the link; and
a fraction of air time (FAT) determiner to determine a FAT value that represents a total consumed air time proportion of a given interval;
wherein the CCM determiner determines the CCM value utilizing both the determined ETT value and the determined FAT value such that the CCM value reflects expected transmission time on each channel as weighted by channel utilization; and
a joint channel assignment and routing (JCAR) implementer configured to evaluate one or more CCM values determined by the CCM determiner and to jointly switch a channel and a route between wireless nodes in the wireless network to lower the CCM value.
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Abstract
In a described implementation, a channel cost metric (CCM) is determined in a wireless network environment. The CCM may be determined responsive to an expected transmission time (ETT) and a frequency of air time (FAT), which reflects a channel utilization. In an example implementation, a channel assignment and/or a routing for a network configuration may be switched responsive to the determined CCM.
37 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device that functions as a wireless node in an ad hoc wireless network, the device comprising:
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a plurality of heterogeneous radios to communicate wirelessly over at least one link on at least one channel of the ad hoc wireless network; and a channel cost metric (CCM) determiner configured to determine a CCM value, the CCM determiner comprising; an expected transmission time (ETT) determiner to determine an ETT value, the ETT value being a unit of time calculated as a function of collision probability on the link, traffic loading on the link, expected total traffic on the link, and average transmission time of one data frame across the link; and a fraction of air time (FAT) determiner to determine a FAT value that represents a total consumed air time proportion of a given interval; wherein the CCM determiner determines the CCM value utilizing both the determined ETT value and the determined FAT value such that the CCM value reflects expected transmission time on each channel as weighted by channel utilization; and a joint channel assignment and routing (JCAR) implementer configured to evaluate one or more CCM values determined by the CCM determiner and to jointly switch a channel and a route between wireless nodes in the wireless network to lower the CCM value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method performed by a device that functions as a wireless node, the method comprising:
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identifying multiple possible joint channel assignment and routing (JCAR) patterns for a wireless ad hock network, wherein at least one JCAR pattern denotes a combined solution that jointly considers channel assignment and routing between wireless nodes in the wireless network; determining respective channel cost metric (CCM) values corresponding to respective JCAR patterns for at least a portion of the possible JCAR patterns, each CCM value responsive to an expected transmission time (ETT) for transmitting one or more packets across at least one link that is weighted by fraction of air time (FAT), with FAT representing a proportion of channel utilization, the ETT for transmitting at least one of the one or more packets across the at least one link being calculated as a function of offered traffic load, an expected total traffic including retransmissions and an average transmission time of one data frame; selecting the JCAR pattern that corresponds to a smallest CCM value; and if the smallest CCM value corresponding to the selected JCAR pattern is less than a current CCM value corresponding to a current JCAR pattern, conducting a switching operation to implement the selected JCAR pattern in the wireless network. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. One or more processor-accessible media embodied with processor-executable instructions, the processor-executable instructions comprising:
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a link status measurement module configured to obtain and share a traffic rate parameter, a time varying link capacity parameter, and a link loss ratio parameter, for each link between nodes on a Multi-radio Multi-channel Multi-hop Wireless Network (M3WN), at least one of the nodes comprising a plurality of heterogeneous radios; a channel assignment module to communicate with a medium access control (MAC) layer; an interface switching module to communicate with a routing layer; and a joint channel assignment and routing (JCAR) decision maker to make decisions on whether to switch a network configuration responsive to a channel cost metric (CCM), the CCM based on an expected transmission time (ETT) that is weighted by a frequency of air time (FAT), wherein the FAT reflects a channel utilization and ETT is determined across a link L(i,j)l between nodes i and j as ETT(i,j)l=T(i,j)l,DATA/(1−
p(i,j)l), where T(i,j)l,DATA denotes an average transmission time of one data frame on the link, and p(i,j)l is a collision probability (due to interference) for link L(i,j)l on a per-wireless-node basis, wherein network configuration switching comprises a joint channel assignment and routing switch between wireless nodes such that a network partition is avoided. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification