A Cross-Layer Architecture for Efficient Multi-Hop Communication in Multi-Channel Multi-Radio Wireless Mesh Networks

Multi-radio multi-channel technology is a viable solution to increase the capacity of wireless mesh networks (WMNs). On the one hand, the interference can be reduced by tuning neighbouring nodes on different channels. On the other hand, multi-hop coordination schemes that exploit the presence of multiple radios can be deployed at the MAC layer. In this paper, we propose a novel cross-layer architecture that provides efficient end-to-end communication in multi-radio multi-channel WMNs. The proposed solution includes both a distributed channel assignment scheme integrated in the routing protocol and a multi-channel MAC protocol which implements a "cut-through" mechanism to reduce the multi-hop contention delay. The simulation results confirm that the proposed architecture produces lower end-to-end delay and MAC overhead in a chain topology, when compared with other existing multi-channel MAC solutions for WMNs.