A Study on Multi-Channel Multi-Interface MAC Protocols for Mesh Networks

In this paper, we propose a new MAC protocol, namely DM-MMAC (Doze Mode Multi-Channel MAC) for ad hoe wireless networks which can utilize multiple channels effectively, thereby enhancing the network throughput considerably. Basically, the IEEE 802.11 specification allows for the use of multiple channels available at the physical layer, but its MAC protocol is designed only for a single channel with the fatal drawback, so called multi-channel hidden terminal problem in multi-channel environments. In this vein, several multi-channel MAC protocols have been proposed, but most of them demonstrate the performance problem that its throughput drastically decreases as the number of mobile hosts residing in a given network increases with small number of available channels. In this work, we tried to improve the performance of multi-channel MAC protocols in terms of network throughput as well as power saving effects by simplifying the channel assignment and channel capturing procedures and reducing the possibility of collisions between mobile hosts.