Load-balancing routing in multichannel hybrid wireless networks with single network interface

A hybrid wireless network is an extension to an infrastructure network, where a mobile host may connect to an access point (AP) using multihop wireless routes via other mobile hosts. The APs are configured to operate on one of multiple available channels. Mobile hosts and wireless routers can select their operating channels dynamically through channel switching. In this environment, we propose a routing protocol that finds routes to balance load among channels while maintaining connectivity. The protocol works with nodes equipped with a single network interface, which distinguishes our work with other multichannel routing protocols that require multiple interfaces per node. The protocol discovers multiple routes to multiple APs, possibly operating on different channels. Based on traffic load information, each node selects the "best" route to an AP and synchronizes its channel with the AP. With this behavior, the channel load is balanced, removing hot spots and improving channel utilization. The protocol assures that every node has at least one route to an AP, where all intermediate nodes are operating on the same channel. Our simulation results show that the proposed protocol successfully adapts to changing traffic conditions and improves performance over a single-channel protocol and a multichannel protocol with no load balancing.