On the impact of interference models on channel assignment in multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks

We study the impact of three different interference models on channel assignment in multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks, namely the protocol model, the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) model and the SIR model with shadowing. The main purpose is to determine the minimum number of non-overlapping frequency channels required to achieve interference-free communication among the mesh nodes based on a realistic interference model. We propose novel, effective, and computationally simple methods for building the conflict graph based on the SIR model with shadowing, and for finding channel assignments from the resulting conflict graph. We find that channel assignment using a realistic interference model (SIR model with shadowing) requires more frequency channels for network throughputs at different node-degree constraints as compared to using simpler interference models.