Channel probing for distributed access control in wireless communication networks

Power control in wireless networks is useful for minimizing channel congestion (hence increasing network capacity). In this work, we show how the distributed power control algorithm with active link protection (DCP-ALP) can be used as a channel probing tool that allows a new link trying to access a channel to quickly and autonomously determine whether it can be admitted to it (i.e. whether there is a feasible power configuration for the transmitters such that the link quality requirements on all links are met), which significantly improves the capacity and access time of the network.