Efficient broadcasting in interface switching wireless networks

Abstract

Dynamic channel assignment is attracting more and more attentions since it can greatly alleviate the problem of interference in wireless networks. Efficient broadcasting, however, is one of the main problems facing dynamic channel assignment. It is easy to send broadcast packets in a network that is always connected due to the broadcast property of wireless channel. The broadcast property, however, may be unavailable when the radios on nodes can dynamically switch to different channels. In this paper, we present a scheme to support efficient broadcasting in interface switching wireless networks, where the nodes demand channel reassignment whenever they start new communications. In these scenarios, traditional broadcasting protocols do not work owing to the absence of permanent connections. One advantage of our proposed scheme is that it does not need additional radio or special channel to transmit broadcast packets. Second, it reduces the broadcast redundancy by establishing a broadcast tree that minimizes the number of relay nodes. NS2 results show that the proposed broadcast ensures that the network achieves better performance and adapts quickly to flows change.