Dynamic frame length channel assignment in wireless multihop ad hoc networks

A good channel assignment scheme in a multihop ad hoc network should not only guarantee successful data transmissions without collisions but also enhance the channel spatial reuse to maximize the system throughput. From the channel assignment schemes in time division multiple access (TDMA) slot assignment protocols developed in previous studies, we have found that these protocols do not have a convenient frame length shrink scheme after the expansion of the frame length. As the network size grows, the frame length expands quickly, particularly when we set the frame length as a power of two. A very long frame may result in poor channel utilization when it contains many unused slots. In this paper, we propose a dynamic frame length expansion and recovery method called dynamic frame length channel assignment (DFLCA). This strategy is designed to make better use of the available channels by taking advantage of the spatial reuse concept. In DFLCA, the increase in the spatial reuse is achieved by adding certain amount of control overhead. We show that the bandwidth saved due to the channel spatial reuse is larger than the additional bandwidth spent on the control overhead.