Smart channel scanning with minimized communication interruptions over IEEE 802.11 WLANs

In IEEE 802.11 wireless networks, periodic channel scanning is an essential procedure to discover available access points (APs) in vicinity and to achieve fast handover. However, this procedure leads to unnecessary overhead in wireless networks and also interrupts ongoing communications of stations. In this paper, we propose a smart channel scanning scheme that minimizes the communication interruptions. In the proposed scheme, periodic channel scanning is scheduled based on the predefined channel scanning intervals and activated after a successful frame transmission only if the mobile station is on move and the received signal strength indicator value (RSSI) drops below a pre-specified threshold value. Analytical and simulation results show that the proposed channel scanning scheme reduces the channel scanning overhead dramatically, minimizes communication interruptions and improves the overall throughputs of stations.