Inter-Access point communications for distributed resource management in 802.11 networks
Eduard García-Villegas, Lluís Faixó, Rafael Vidal, Josep Paradells · 2006
Due to the increasing number of IEEE 802.11 networks, the presence of interference is becoming an important problem to solve. In a single multicell network, the harmful effect of interference is minimized thanks to network planning; but if there are different wireless networks coexisting, which besides, belong to different owners, the presence of a distributed resource management mechanism becomes the best choice. A distributed management system involves communication among all participant devices. In the present paper two mechanisms are proposed: channel allocation algorithm and load balancing through cell breathing. The questions raised by these new communication needs are analyzed and also, different solutions are proposed based on a common idea: use of Access Points (APs) with two radio interfaces adopting ad-hoc networking mechanisms for inter-AP signaling purposes.