A Distributed Channel Allocation Algorithm for Multi-channel Wireless Networks

Multi-channel can increase the network throughput but require new algorithm to allocate channels. This study proposed a new distributed channel allocation algorithm which utilizes multi-channel to improve network performances, such as network throughput, end to end delay. The algorithm is based on contention graph and adopts contention factor to evaluate conflicts in a channel. In a local contention graph, the link with maximal degree is assigned to channel with minimal contention factor. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm improves the network throughput and end to end delay. Especially, with the increase of network load, the improvement increases significantly.