Symmetrical Power Control for Multi-Channel Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

Transmitting request-to-send (RTS)/clear-to-send (CTS) packets at the maximum power and data/ACK packets at the minimum power creates a asymmetrical link which has been proven to increase the collision probability. In this paper, we first discuss the deficiency of uncontrolled asymmetrical transmission power in multi-channel environments. We then propose a symmetrical power control for multi-channel multi-hop networks. Specifically, we allocate different transmission powers to different channels to create symmetrical links. Nodes select a channel based on the received power and then transmit at the power that has been assigned to the selected channel. Simulation results are given to demonstrate that the proposed scheme can significantly enhance the network performance.