Distributed joint channel assignment, routing and scheduling for wireless mesh networks

We present the JARS (joint channel assignment, routing and scheduling) scheme for ad hoc wireless networks in which nodes are endowed with multiple radios. JARS is one example of the benefits gained by the integration of routing, scheduling, and channel assignment by using the multiple radios at each node to transmit and receive simultaneously on different orthogonal channels. Instead of choosing the optimal route based on the predetermined transmission scheduling and channel assignment results, JARS incorporates the efficiency of underlying channel assignment and scheduling information into the routing metric calculation so that the route with the maximal joint spatial and frequency reuse is selected. Once a path is established, the channel assignment and link scheduling are also determined at the same time. JARS also adapts different channel assignment and scheduling strategies according to the different communication patterns of broadcast and unicast transmissions. Simulation results show that JARS efficiently exploits the channel diversity and spatial reuse features of a multi-channel multi-radio system.