Channel assignment with route discovery (CARD) using cognitive radio in multi-channel multi-radio wireless mesh networks

For better spectrum utilization, efficient channel allocation in multi-radio wireless mesh networks has become an active research area. Our proposed CARD algorithm deals with the application of cognitive mesh routers for fixed channel assignments to mesh clients under each router's domain. The farthest channel assignment by the cognitive radio in mesh routers ensures minimum inter-router and intra-router interference. Initial fixed assignment of channels to clients supporting k-connectivity (k = 3 and 5 sub-channels) shows substantial increase with 15 concurrent transmissions when compared to 4 in case of the CCA scheme with k=3 and 3 channels to choose, i.e., a factor of almost 4. The improvement in communication delay is about a factor of 80 when compared to SC and a factor of 35 compared to CCA.