Distributive Power Control and Rate Adaptation Link Scheduling in Wireless Mesh Networks

In this paper, a new distributive heuristic algorithm is developed for maximizing the network throughput in adaptive power and rate spatial-TDMA networks. At each step of our algorithm, the link with highest current receive-SINR in its 2-hop neighborhood is included in the schedule for the underlying time slot, configuring its Modulation/Coding Scheme so that it transmits at the highest feasible power and rate. The winning link announces its power margin to its neighbors. The receivers of unscheduled links calculate the maximum potential SINR at which their link could operate if scheduled next. The next set of winners is then selected. The process repeats until the power margin of transmitting links doesn't allow more additions to the schedule at the underlying time-slot. Simulation results show the performance of the distributive algorithm to be within 5-10% of that exhibited by our recently developed centralized algorithms, while inducing a much lower computational complexity.