A dynamic frame partitioning scheme for IEEE 802.16 mesh networks

The IEEE 802.16 mesh network is a promising next generation wireless backbone network. In the mesh mode, the allocation of minislots is handled by centralized scheduling and distributed scheduling, which are independently exercised. However, the standard does not specify how the frame can be dynamically partitioned among its centralized and distributed schedulers. Through efficient frame partitioning that dynamically adapts the user demand, network can support more user applications. This paper proposes a novel and general dynamic frame partitioning scheme for IEEE 802.16 mesh so that the minislot allocation can be more flexible and the minislot utilization is increased. The scheme predicts efficient partitioning for future frames based on the minislot utilization on current frames by Grey-Markov model. Our study indicates that the dynamic frame partitioning scheme outperform the scheme proposed in the IEEE standard.