An autonomous channel selection algorithm based upon neighbour forcing for multi-channel IEEE 802.11 networks

An IEEE 802.11 station may become congested and experience high packet delay and possible catastrophic packet loss because it cannot win sufficient bandwidth. A channel selection algorithm allows the congested station to find another channel which has sufficient available bandwidth in order to transmit its packets without congestion. In this paper, we propose an autonomous channel selection algorithm based upon the novel technique of neighbour forcing (NF) where the congested station deliberately forces its neighbour stations into saturation in order to seek another channel. Experimental results show that the NF algorithm is more successful in reducing the incidence of congestion compared to other channel assignment algorithms.