Method and apparatus for allocating a channel to a wireless interface

An apparatus for allocating a channel in a wireless network comprising:

• a receiving unit that receives channel allocation information which represents channels allocated by neighbor nodes of a node;
• a channel search unit that searches for a channel set having a minimal number of channels which has at least one channel in common to channels allocated to each of the neighbor nodes based on the received channel allocation information;
• a channel allocation unit that allocates a channel to the wireless interface based on the search result of the channel search unit;
• a channel change cost comparison unit that compares channel change costs for all channels which belong to one or more channel sets found by the channel search unit, when the minimal number of channels which are found in the channel search unit is greater than a critical number;
• and
• a channel change request unit that requests changing a channel in use in neighbor nodes,
• wherein the channel allocation unit selects a channel of one channel set of the one or more found channel sets based on the channel change cost comparison result of the channel change cost comparison unit and allocates the channel to the wireless interface.