Method for facilitating sharing of channel information in a wireless communication network

A method for obtaining channel information in a multi-hop wireless communication network, comprising operating a node to:

• receive periodically, information related to a channel assessment capability of each of a plurality of nodes operating within the wireless communication network wherein the information related to channel assessment capability comprises whether or not a node from the plurality of nodes can perform channel assessment;
• maintain a metric characterizing the channel assessment capability of each of the plurality of nodes based on the received channel assessment capability;
• select at least one node from the plurality of nodes by comparing the metric of each of the plurality of nodes;
• determine at least one intermediate node that is capable of forwarding a request for channel information to the selected node, wherein the at least one intermediate node is at least one hop away from the node;
• send the request for channel information to the selected node via the at least one intermediate node;
• and
• receive channel information from the selected node.

A method for providing channel information in a wireless communication network, comprising:

• receiving periodically, information related to a channel assessment capability of each of a plurality of nodes operating within the wireless communication network wherein the information related to -channel assessment capability comprises information regarding whether a node from the plurality of nodes can perform channel assessment and further wherein the plurality of nodes comprise one or more neighbor nodes of a requesting node;
• maintaining a metric characterizing the channel assessment capability of each of the plurality of nodes based on the received channel assessment capability;
• receiving from the requesting node, a request for channel information, including information related to the one or more neighbor nodes of the requesting node;
• in response to receiving the request, determining whether the channel information related to the one or more neighbor nodes is locally maintained;
• when the channel information related to the one or more neighbor nodes is locally maintained,
• sending the channel information of the one or more neighbor nodes to the requesting node;
• and
• when the channel information related to the one or more neighbor nodes is not locally maintained,
• selecting a node from the one or more neighbor nodes, based on the metric of each of the one or more neighbor nodes,
• sending a request for channel information to the selected node,
• receiving the channel information from the selected node, and
• sending the channel information of selected node to the requesting node.

A wireless mesh network for facilitating sharing of channel information, comprising:

• a plurality of mesh nodes;
• and
• at least one intelligent access point capable of connecting at least one of the mesh nodes to a wired backbone;
• and
• wherein each mesh node and intelligent access point:
• receive periodically, information related to a channel assessment capability of each of the mesh nodes wherein, the information related to channel assessment capability comprises information regarding whether or not a mesh node from the plurality of mesh nodes can perform channel assessment,
• maintain a metric characterizing the channel assessment capability for each of the plurality of mesh nodes,
• select at least one mesh node based by comparing the metric of each of the plurality of mesh nodes,
• send a request for channel information to the selected mesh node,
• receive channel information from the selected mesh node, and
• share the received channel information to other mesh nodes and intelligent access points of the wireless mesh network.