Improving the scalability of MAC protocols in wireless mesh network

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-133).Efficient utilization of multi-channels is critical for the success of multi-channel MACprotocols. Unfortunately, current multi-channel MAC protocols are not efficient in the utilization of the multiple channels. The poor utilization of the available channels is also affected by the following: channel coordination, channel selection, and channel scheduling strategies, which do not lend themselves to scalability and the efficient use of the multiple channels. Good channel coordination and selection techniques are therefore required to improve the efficiency of the multi-channel MAC protocols. These techniques should be coupled with effective and scalable signalling techniques, which reduce substantial signalling overhead. A multi-channel Cyclical Scheduling Algorithm (CSA) is proposed to address these challenges