Channel assignment and routing in multi-channel, multi-interface wireless mesh networks

Each node equipped with multiple interfaces in multi-channel wireless mesh networks can increase the network throughput when applied to appropriate channel assignment and routing protocols. In this paper, we analyze the channel assignment and channel switching problems in WMN where the number of interfaces is smaller than the number of channels. Ripple effect caused by channel switching is presented. The method to restrict the distance of ripple effect and to balance the load among channels is given. We also advance the Weighted Expected Residual Transmission Rate (WERTR) - a load-aware routing metric - to select a best quality route which is suitable for use with our proposed channel assignment strategy.