Cross-Layer Fair Bandwidth Sharing for Multi-Channel Wireless Mesh Networks

• Published in: IEEE transactions on wireless communications Vol. 7; no. 9; pp. 3436 - 3445
• Main Authors: Rad, A.H.M., Wong, V.W.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway, NJ IEEE 01-09-2008; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aggregates; Applied sciences; approximate dual decomposition; Approximation; Bandwidth; channel assignment; Channels; Cryptography; exact binary linearization; Exact sciences and technology; fairness; Frequency; Information, signal and communications theory; interface assignment; Linearization techniques; Network interface cards; Network interfaces; Network topology; network utility maximization; Networks; Performance gain; Routers; Signal and communications theory; Studies; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Throughput; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Utilities; Utility programs; Wireless communication; Wireless mesh networks; Wireless networks; Performance evaluation; Wireless telecommunication; Information rate; Equity; Data transmission; Network interfaces; Optimal design; approximate dual decomposition; Wireless mesh networks; Security of data; Cryptography; Linearization; fairness; channel assignment; Meshed network; exact binary linearization; Anonymity; Mixed integer programming; Router; Resource sharing; Information transmission; interface assignment; network utility maximization; Channel allocation; Telecommunication channels; Numerical simulation
• ISSN: 1536-1276; 1558-2248
• DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2008.070238

In a wireless mesh network (WMN) with a number of stationary wireless routers, the aggregate capacity can be increased when each router is equipped with multiple network interface cards (NICs) and each NIC is assigned to a distinct orthogonal frequency channel. In this paper, given the logical topology of the network, we mathematically formulate a cross- layer fair bandwidth sharing problem as a non-linear mixed- integer network utility maximization problem. An optimal joint design, based on exact binary linearization techniques, is proposed which leads to a global maximum. A near-optimal joint design, based on approximate dual decomposition techniques, is also proposed which is practical for deployment. Performance is assessed through several numerical examples in terms of network utility, aggregate network throughput, and fairness index. Results show that our proposed designs can lead to multi-channel WMNs which are more efficient and fair compared to their single- channel counterparts. The performance gain on both efficiency and fairness increase as the number of available NICs per router or the number of available frequency channels increases.