A multi-channel multi-interface MAC for collision-free communication in wireless ad hoc networks

Use of multiple frequency channels offers great potential to improve the capacity of wireless ad hoc networks if advanced MAC protocols are employed to assign channels to radio interfaces. An efficient multichannel protocol must exploit a channel assignment strategy which assures fairness and high performance with a low signaling overhead. When multiple radio interfaces are available on each node, a good channel assignment allows a node to use multiple channels simultaneously. The present work proposes a new multichannel multi-interface MAC protocol, based on the Balanced Incomplete Block Design (BIBD) theory. In details, the protocol is time slotted, collision free, and assures a fair distribution of both available frequency channels and time slots, thanks to the BIBD resolvability feature. Finally, analytical results are shown which highlight very high channel utilization, throughput and global energy saving.