Routing, spectrum access, and scheduling in multi-hop multi-channel wireless networks with MIMO links

Abstract

Software-defined radios (SDRs) are a promising technology to enable dynamic channel access and sharing. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) is another radio technology breakthrough for increasing wireless network capacity. To obtain the full benefits brought by the SDR and MIMO technologies in wireless mesh networks (WMNs), the higher layer mechanisms should exploit their capabilities in a systematic way. In this paper, we investigate routing, channel assignment, link scheduling, and MIMO transmission mode control in multi-channel multi-antenna wireless mesh networks. We first present a cross-layer framework for network performance optimization. Network traffic routing is established on a relatively long time scale to maintain system stability. We then proposed a stream controlled multiple access (SCMA) scheme, which is responsible for assigning frequency channels and scheduling links for data transmission and controlling MIMO transmission modes. It enables efficient spectrum access and sharing in time, frequency, and space, and adapts to varying network conditions. The evaluation results show that the proposed scheme greatly improves network performance compared to the traditional schemes.

Distributed Link Scheduling Algorithm Based on Successive Interference Cancellation in MIMO Wireless Networks

“…To further improve the overall performance of the network, the data link layer, the network layer, and the transmission layer need to be designed cooperatively for optimization. The layered protocol architecture with network adaptability has received widespread attention, such as the joint routing and scheduling optimization scheme [6] and joint power control and link scheduling optimization scheme [32,33], but there are still many limitations in the practical applications of these optimization schemes. Therefore, a mathematical framework is established in this paper for the cross-layer optimization of routing and scheduling, with constraints of traffic balance and link capacity.…”

“…Because SIC is used, the receiver can sequentially cancel all interference signals that are stronger than its expected signal if those stronger signals satisfy (6). Therefore, it is only necessary to consider the residual interference at the sender, which is weaker than the expected signal.…”

“…It is consequently challenging to design efficient link scheduling algorithms to improve communication efficiency in wireless communication. Wireless network multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology can transmit multiple data streams simultaneously without increasing bandwidth and enhance data throughput; MIMO has therefore attracted increasing attention [5,6].…”