Channel and power allocation algorithm to optimize the performance of large WLANs
Marcelo Riedi, Giovanna G. Basilio, Marcelo Eduardo Pellenz · 2015
This paper addresses performance optimization in large Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) deployments. Due to the great recent demand for wireless connectivity, WLANs with a wide coverage area and using a great number of Access Points (APs) are often deployed. Typically, these networks should provide a good signal coverage at indoor and outdoor locations. In a specific WLAN deployment, the key parameters that can be modified by the network administrator are the channel and power allocation at each AP. We propose a new centralized algorithm for power adjustment and channel allocation, which combines analytical propagation models and measurement data from the network. The employed strategy allows to reduce the interference among APs, thus improving the overall network performance. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that it does not require specific signal site surveys and it uses signal and data traffic information already available by typical wireless network management tools. The proposed algorithm was tested in real scenarios. The results show interference reduction and improvements in throughput, thus demonstrating the viability of the proposed strategy.