Frequency assignment for multi-cell IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

A method, executed in at least one processor, for assigning channels in a network that includes a plurality of access points, comprising the steps of:

• when an access point joins said network or has left said network, assigning a channel to each access points of said network;
• for each access point i, including in set Ci(1) those of said access points of said network whose power, as received by access point i, is greater than a first preselected threshold, and including in Ci(2) those of pairs of said access points of said network whose combined power, as received by access point i, is greater than a second preselected threshold;
• determining effective channel utilization, Ui, for each access point, i, of said network, where
• U
• i
• =
• ρ
• i
• +
• ∑
• j
• ∈
• C
• i
• 
• (
• 1
• )
• 
• ρ
• j
• 
• X
• j
• +
• ∑
• m
• ,
• n
• ∈
• C
• i
• 
• (
• 2
• )
• 
• ρ
• m
• 
• ρ
• n
• 
• X
• m
• 
• X
• n
• where ρ1 is traffic load received by said access point i from terminals that intend to communicate with said access point i, ρk(k=j, m, or n) is traffic load outputted by access point k, respectively, and Xk is 1 if access point k was assigned the channel that was assigned to access point i and 0 otherwise;
• altering the channel assignments to minimize an objective function that reflects a bottleneck condition in said network;
• and
• employ the network with the access points employing the channels as altered in the step of altering.