A cross-layer routing scheme for multi-channel multi-hop wireless mesh networks

This paper proposes an efficient and adaptive cross-layer routing scheme coined Path Cost-Based Routing (PCBR) scheme for multi-channel, multi-hop Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs). In our scheme, paths are selected based on the path cost determined by the three important metrics: end-to-end delay, available bandwidth, and path packet loss rate. The end-to-end delay and available bandwidth are redefined based on the 802.11s MAC protocol to fit the multi-channel, multi-hop WMNs. Mesh Routers (MRs) process most route discovery work in themselves to reduce the number of retransmissions in flooding the route discovery packets. The route is preferred with less end-to-end delay, more available bandwidth, and less power consumption by adapting the coefficients of the three metrics. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme is very suitable for the multi-channel, multi-hop WMNs.