Resource-aware routing and scheduling in multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks

Multi-Radio Multi-Channel (MRMC) wireless mesh networks (WMNs) feature fast connection and low cost in providing ubiquitous access as broadband backbones. The transmission efficiency of such networks highly depends on the coordination of routing and scheduling over user requests and network properties. Considering a set of resource factors including network topology, node interface, and channel and time availability, this paper formulates an optimization problem on joint routing and scheduling, and proposes a resource-aware heuristic solution that cooperatively combines coexisting links to support multi-pair traffic requests. Extensive simulation results show the robustness and efficiency of the proposed solution. This research provides a rigorous approach to the evaluation of network topology planning, and lays down a solid foundation for the analysis and development of effective strategies to refine existing deployments of MRMC WMNs.