2010 Fifth International Conference on Systems and Networks Communications

Interference and Power Minimization in TDMA-OFDMA Infrastructure Wireless Mesh Networks

Ted H. Szymanski, Bell Canada Chair, Dept.ECE, McMaster University, Canada, teds@mcmaster.ca
AbstractThis paper examines algorithms to minimize interference in infrastructure wireless mesh networks. A mathematical optimization problem for coloring the active wireless edges in a time-division scheduling frame is formulated. The optimization eliminates primary conicts and minimizes secondary conicts. The active wireless edges are specied in an integer zeroone edge-specication matrix. An edge-interference matrix is formulated, where each element represents the interference power if two edges share a color. The objective of the optimization problem is to partition the integer edge-specication matrix into a sum of C integer zero-one matrices which specify the active edges assigned to each of the C colors, such that the secondary interference is minimized. The optimal solution requires a constrained partitioning of an integer matrix, which is a combinatorial problem. A polynomial time approximation algorithm called Least-Noise coloring is presented. Simulations of an essentiallysaturated hexagonal mesh network supporting backhaul trafc ows are reported. It is conrmed that interference and edge transmission powers can be minimized, and that the mesh network can be congured to achieve near-perfect Quality of Service guarantees with essentially 100% throughput.

Fig. 1.

A Multihop Infrastructure WMN.

Keywords - wireless mesh network; scheduling; Quality of Service; QoS; low jitter; edge coloring I. I NTRODUCTION Infrastructure Multihop Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) [1] as shown in Fig. 1 represent a promising technology to deliver high-bandwidth services over large geographic areas. The IEEE is developing several new standards such as the 802.11s standard promoting the development of mesh networks [2]. Let the wireless mesh routers be called Base-Stations (BSs). The end-users of the network include stationary end-users (i.e., homes, ofces) and mobile end-users (i.e., cell-phones). The trafc between a BS and the end-users is called enduser trafc. The delivery of trafc between the BSs in a multihop manner is called backhauling, and this trafc is called backhaul trafc. This paper focusses on algorithms to minimize interference and transmission power in a WMN, while simultaneously achieving Near-Perfect Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees for all provisioned backhaul trafc ows, for all network loads 100%. Near-Perfect QoS is dened when (i) the normalized delay through one mesh router is within a constant factor of the perfect normalized delay with probability 1 , (ii) the normalized delay through an end-to-end path of H mesh routers is within a constant factor of the perfect normalized delay with probability O(1 H ), (iii) the amount of service received by every provisioned trafc ow is within a constant
978-0-7695-4145-7/10 $26.00 2010 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ICSNC.2010.67 348

factor of the perfect amount of service with probability 1 , and (iv) the network can be congured to achieve 100% of its peak capacity, for arbitrarily small . At the Physical layer, assume an infrastructure-based WMN using a combination of Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and Space-Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technologies. Infrastructure WMNs are designed to offer highly reliable communications to end-users. Each BS has a xed location, and employs a directional antenna to enable highcapacity directional communications with its neighboring BSs. During the deployment of such systems, the BSs are geographically positioned to offer high-bandwidth Line-of-Sight (LOS) paths between neighbors. If a high-bandwidth path cannot be provided, then Relay-Stations (RSs) may be added to provide the required high-bandwidth path. RSs are less expensive than BSs, and can be densely deployed to minimize interference. Before the introduction of optical ber, multihop infrastructure WMNs provided reliable communications over much of North America for several decades (ie 1950s-1970s). The ATT Long Lines network used xed microwave towers with static directional antenna, and the same technology is still widely used today when the cost of ber is prohibitive. Using newer technologies such as 802.11 Wi and 802.16 WiMax standards [2,3], along with programmable directional antenna using MIMO arrays, the new generation of multihop infrastructure WMNs should have even better performance than the legacy

Fig. 2.

A WMN G(V, E ) and the edge matrix E .

multihop WMNs of the past. Given the xed locations of the Base-Stations in an infrastructure WMN, the directional antenna can be static (i.e., parabolic dishes) or dynamic (i.e., programmable MIMO arrays). Regardless of the type of antenna used, in our infrastructure WMN we assume that the transmission power levels are selected to provide each directed wireless edge between neighboring BSs with a predetermined minimum SINR m and a xed data-rate Dm , for example 128 Mbps. At the Network layer, high capacity and scalability are important requirements for infrastructure WMNs [1]. To increase capacity, Base-Stations can exploit multiple radio transceivers, each with access to multiple largely orthogonal radio channels. Wireless mesh networks were the routers have multiple wireless transceivers are called multichannel WMNs. Routing and scheduling are key problems in many networks [1]. For example, the problem of scheduling trafc in one crossbar switch or a network of switches to achieve essentially-perfect QoS and 100% throughput under the constraint of unity speedup has remained unsolved for several decades [4-8]. Similarly, the problem of scheduling trafc in a wireless mesh network to achieve essentially-perfect QoS and 100% throughput has remained unsolved for several decades. It has recently been shown in theory [8-13] that trafc ows can be scheduled in a crossbar switch subject to two constraints: (1) all trafc ows are simultaneously guaranteed to achieve Essentially-Perfect QoS, and (2) the crossbar switch achieves 100% of its peak capacity. It was also shown in [9,10] that the scheduling problem in an infrastructure WMN can be transformed to the scheduling problem in a single crossbar switch and conversely. By exploiting this mathematical transformation, it follows that backhaul trafc ows can be scheduled in an infrastructure WMN subject to two constraints: (1) all backhaul trafc ows are guaranteed to achieve Near-Perfect end-to-end QoS, and (2) the WMN achieves 100% of its peak capacity. However, a necessary condition for the theories in [8-13] to hold is that every active wireless edge in a WMN can be congured to have an SINR m and data-rate Dm , so that the wireless edges are reasonably reliable. In this paper, we explore algorithms which minimize interference to achieve this necessary condition. It has been shown that the minimization of interference in some

network models is NP-Hard [14]. In our methodology an N xN trafc demand matrix D is rst specied for the WMN, where each element of the demand matrix Di,j species the required backhaul trafc rate between a pair of BSs (i, j ). The trafc demand matrix must be routed, such that the constraints of every wireless router and every wireless edge are obeyed. The routing algorithms we consider for multichannel WMNs are described in [9,10]. After routing, an edge trafc rate matrix R is dened, where each element Ri,j species the required trafc rate between a pair of neighboring BSs (i, j ). The matrix R is decomposed using the scheduling algorithm in [8], to yield a TDMA schedule. The TDMA schedule consists of a specication of active wireless edges for the time-slots in a TDMA scheduling frame. Each set of active edges forms a partial or full permutation, which are hereafter called permutations. The sequence of permutations guarantees that every provisioned backhaul trafc ow receives Near-Perfect QoS, given that the wireless links meet minimum SINR and data-rate requirements m and Dm . In general, the permutations computed by the algorithm in [8] cannot be used directly in the time-slots of a WMN, and must be pre-processed to remove primary conicts and minimize secondary conicts. In an TDMA/OFDMA system, each permutation must be colored to assign an OFDMA radio channel to each active wireless edge, and each colored edge must be assigned to one specic time-slot of the TDMA scheduling frame. After the coloring, the edges which share a color can be realized simultaneously without primary conicts in one time-slot. At the network layer, a WMN can be represented as a graph G(V, E ), where V is the set of wireless routers (i.e., BSs), and E is the set of possible wireless edges, each with a predetermined SINR and data-rate. The set E can be represented by an integer matrix E , where E (u, v ) = 1 if vertices u and v can communicate over a wireless edge. Each permutation computed by the algorithm in [8] can be represented by an active-edge matrix S , where S (u, v ) = 1 if the vertices u and v are matched in the permutation. A real-valued edge-interference matrix I is dened, where each element Ii,j represents the potential interference power if two edges i, j share a color. It has been shown that 3 colors are sufcient to color a permutation if the WMN topology is planar and the node degree is 2. Assume a 2-channel WMN, where the degree will be 2. A mathematical optimization problem is then formulated, where the objective is to partition the integer active-edge matrix S into a sum of 3 zero-one integer matrices S1 , S2 , and S3 , which specify the active edges in each of three colors, such that the secondary interference is minimized. Once the partitioning is completed, each active edge can be assigned a transmission power level such that a minimum SINR m and data-rate Dm is achieved. An optimal solution to the optimization problem requires a constrained partitioning of an integer matrix, which is an integer-programming problem in the eld of combinatorial mathematics. A polynomial time approximation algorithm called the Least-Noise coloring algorithm is presented.

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Extensive simulations of an essentially-saturated hexagonal TDMA/OFDMA/SDMA WMN supporting backhaul trafc ows are then reported. Several trafc demand matrices for a 64 node WMN were generated. Each trafc demand matrix consists of several hundred backhaul trafc ows which must be provisioned in a WMN as shown in Fig. 1, with network loads approaching 100%. The backhaul trafc ows were routed to create an edge trafc rate matrix. The matrix was then decomposed using the algorithm in [8] to yield the set of permutations to be realized by the WMN. Each permutation was represented as an active-edge matrix, which was colored using the proposed Least-Noise algorithm to yield the assignment of colors to the edges of the scheduling frame. The transmission power levels for each edge were then computed, so that every edge achieves a minimum SINR and data-rate. For the WMNs considered in this paper, simulations conrm that every wireless edge can be congured to meet a predetermined SINR (i.e., m =30 dB) and data-rate (i.e., Dm =128 Mbps). Therefore, according to the theory in [8-13] it follows that the WMNs considered in this paper can be routed and scheduled to achieve essentially 100% of peak network capacity, while simultaneously guaranteeing that every provisioned backhaul trafc ow is delivered with Near-Perfect end-to-end QoS. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a review of interference in WMNs. Section 3 summarizes the WMN scheduling algorithm. Section 4 summarizes the proposed Least-Noisecoloring algorithm. Section 5 presents the simulation results. Section 6 concludes the paper. II. R EVIEW OF I NTERFERENCE IN WMN S Consider rst an infrastructure WMN where each BS has one or more MIMO programmable directional antennas. An iterative algorithm to compute the MIMO antenna beamforming vectors which minimizes the interference in WMNs was presented in [15,16]. Let M denote the number of antenna elements in a MIMO antenna array. Let e denote a wireless link (edge), and let t(e) and r(e) denote the transmitter and receiver of edge e. The quasi-static channel matrix from t(e) to r(e) is denoted Hr(e),t(e) . The unit norm vectors we and ge denote the normalized receive and transmit beamforming vectors at nodes r(e) and t(e) respectively. The power at t(e) is denoted Pe . Given a set of active edges denoted A and noise power which is normalized to unity, then the SINR at r(e) is given by e =
H Pe |we Hr(e),t(e) ge |2 H 2 e Ae Pe |we Hr (e),t(e ) ge | + I

We assume that each wireless link maintains a predetermined transmission rate c and SINR ratio greater than =m . Transmitters will adjust their transmission power and programmable MIMO beamforming vectors for transmissions to selected neighbors. When e , then the link capacity Dm is achieved; otherwise the transmission may be unreliable. Given a set of active edges to be realized, an optimization problem is to nd the transmission power vector and the MIMO beamforming vectors (Pe , we , ge ) for e A such that the total transmission power is minimized. The set A consists of all active edges which are computed by the scheduling algorithm in [15]. The optimization problem can be formulated as in [15,16]: min(Pe , we , ge ), e A
e A max s.t.e , Pe Pe ,e A

Pe

(3) (4)

(1)

Given xed transmitter beamformers and power levels, the optimal MIMO receive beamforming vector that maximizes the SINR is the normalized MMSE beamformer, which is proportional to we = R(ge , Pe )1 Hr(e),t(e) ge where R(ge , Pe ) =
e Ae H H Pe Hr(e),t(e ) ge ge Hr(e),t(e ) + I (2)

where ge = {ge |e = e} and where Pe = {Pe |e = e}

Network duality can be applied when the channel reciT procity condition Ha,b = Hb,a holds for a = b, to nd a distributed solution to the problem [15,16]. In the IMMSE algorithm presented in [15,16] all nodes exchange training packets, and the beamformers and power levels are iteratively computed. To achieve the necessary condition for an optimal solution, the transmit beamformers for the next iteration are set to be equal to the complex conjugate of the current normalized MMSE receive beamformers. In each iteration, the SINR on each link is computed and the transmission power per link is adjusted to achieve the prescribed minimum SINR m . Under these conditions, the beamformers and power vectors converge to a locally optimum solution when the problem is feasible [15,16]. According to [15,16], the IMMSE algorithm may require hundreds of iterations and may not converge to a viable solution. In this case, the system is unstable and all active edges require innite power. They recommend that the edge with lowest SINR is identied and dropped from the set of active edges, and the IMMSE algorithm is repeated for the reduced set of active edges A. Edges may be dropped repeatedly from the set A, until the IMMSE algorithm can nd a viable solution. One problem with the above algorithm is that there is no guarantee that a set of active edges can be realized. Since edges may be dropped repeatedly, there can be no hard QoS guarantees for any trafc ows. Another difculty is the large number of iterations which may be required. It is desirable to compute a feasible initial solution for a WMN, to reduce the number of iterations of the IMMSE algorithm. One such algorithm called the Fast Mesh Zero Forcing algorithm was presented in [12]. For the initial solution, assume that each MIMO antenna array has several precomputed beamforming vectors. Each vector is chosen to maximize transmission along one edge, and to force nulls or zeros to the other nearest neighbors, using the existing quasistatic channel matrices [12]. Therefore, there is no need to iteratively compute MIMO beamforming vectors to nd the

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initial feasible solution. Each precomputed transmit beamforming vector has a xed transmitter radiation pattern which is known in advance, where the pattern denes the transmitted signal strength in a 2D plane. Similarly, each precomputed receive beamforming vector has a xed receiving radiation pattern which is known in advance, where the pattern denes the received signal strength in a 2D plane. If we further assume that the channel matrices between Base-Stations represent scalar signal attenuations, then an initial feasible solution (if one exists) can be computed quickly without iterations. The simplied model can then be used to iteratively compute the initial transmission power estimate for each active edge, such that each edge meets the minimum SINR requirement m , as required by the scheduling algorithm in [8-13]. Fast computations are important, since the scheduling algorithm in [8] will compute potentially one hundred sets of active edges when the trafc patterns change for the WMN, and each of these sets must be processed. III. R EVIEW OF N EAR -P ERFECT SCHEDULING IN WMN S An algorithm for scheduling backhaul trafc ows in infrastructure WMNs such that every ow receives Near-Perfect QoS was presented in [8-13]. The algorithm requires that every wireless edge in a WMN can be congured to meet a minimum SINR m and a minimum data-rate Dm , i.e., 128 Mbps. The scheduling algorithm is used to generate the sets of active wireless edges in this paper, i.e., the activeedge matrices, and is briey reviewed. The Guaranteed-Rate trafc requirements for a packet-switched WMN with N nodes can specied in a doubly-substochastic or doubly stochastic edge trafc rate matrix R, as shown in Eq. 5. The trafc rates between neighboring nodes are expressed as an integer number of requested time-slot reservations within a TDMA scheduling frame of length F time-slots. The minimum quota of reservable bandwidth is one time-slot within a frame, representing (1/F ) of the wireless edge capacity. R0,0 R0,1 ... R0,N 1 R1,0 R1,1 ... R1,N 1 R= (5) ... ... ... .... RN 1,0 RN 1,1 ... RN 1,N 1 where i=0 Ri,j 1 and j =0 Ri,j 1. Let P (M, F ) represent the problem of scheduling a trafc rate matrix M into a TDMA scheduling frame of F timeslots. The problem P (M, F ) can be viewed as the root of a binary tree, and can be partitioned into two smaller scheduling problems P (M 1, F/2) and P (M 2, F/2). The matrices M 1 and M 2 are chosen such that M 1(i, j ) M 2(i, j ) + 1 and M 2(i, j ) M 1(i, j ) + 1. This problem of partitioning an integer matrix M into two matrices M 1 and M 2 is a problem in combinatorial mathematics, and can be solved efciently using the recently proposed RFSMD algorithm described in [8]. The following notations related to scheduler performance will be necessary.
N 1 N 1

Denition: A Frame transmission schedule of length F is a sequence of permutation matrices (or permutation vectors) which dene the WMN congurations for F time slots within a TDMA scheduling frame. Given a wireless edge capacity c, the frame length F is determined by the desired minimum allotment of bandwidth to a trafc ow = c/F . For example, to allocate the wireless link bandwidth to trafc ows in increments of 3 % of c, set F = 32. Denition: The Ideal Inter-Departure Time (IIDT) of cells belonging to a trafc ow between a pair of base-Stations (i, j ) with quantized guaranteed rate R(i, j ), given a TDMA frame schedule of length F and wireless link rate c in bytes/sec and xed sized cells of C bytes per cell, is given by: IIDT = F/R(i, j ) time slots, each of duration (c/C ) sec. Denition: The Received Service of a trafc ow with rate R(i, j ) at time slot t within a frame schedule of length F , denoted Sij (t), is equal to the number of permutation matrices in the frame transmission schedule in time slots 1...t, t F , in which Base-Station i was matched to Base-Station j . Denition: The Service Lag of a trafc ow between BaseStations i and j , at time t given a frame transmission schedule of length F , denoted Lij (t), equals the difference between the requested service prorated by the time t within the current frame, and the received service, ie Lij (t) = (mod(t, F )/F ) R(i, j ) Sij (t). The Normalized Service Lag expresses the service lag in terms of xed sized packets. The following four theorems are summarized in [9-12], and assume that each link is reliable. Assume each bursty trafc ow is admitted to any packet-switched network, wired or wireless, subject to trafc-shaping at the source to limit burstiness. Each ow has a maximum normalized service lead/lag of K cells. A trafc ow is said to conform to T (, , ) if its average rate = , its burst rate = , and its maximum normalized service lead/lag = . Theorem 1: Given a ow f traversing a BS over an interval (0, t), with arrivals A(, , ), with service S (, , ), for =K , and where the number of queued cells Q(0) = O(K ), then Q(t) = O(K ). Theorem 2: When all queues in all intermediate BSs have reached steady-state, the maximum end-to-end queueing delay of a GR ow traversing H BSs is O(HK ) time-slots. Theorem 3 : In the steady-state, the departures of trafc ow f at any BS along an end-to-end path of H BS are constrained by the scheduling opportunities, and will exhibit a maximum normalized service lead/lag of K , ie the departing trafc ow is S (, , ), for =K . The normalized service lead/lag of a ow is not cumulative when traversing multiple wireless routers. Theorem 4: A trafc ow which traverses H wireless routers along an end-to-end path can be delivered to the destination BS with essentially-zero network-introduced delay jitter, when a playback buffer of size 4K cells is employed, ie the trafc ow is S (, , ), for =K . Theorem 1 states that the buffering required for any ow in any BS in any infrastructure WMN network topology is limited to a small number of O(K ) packets for all loads 100%.

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Theorem 2 states that every end-to-end trafc ow will never experience congestion and throughput degradation. Every ow experiences a small and effectively negligible queueing delay at each BS, compared to current router technologies. Theorem 3 states that the normalized service lead/lag is not cumulative when traversing multiple nodes in any network topology. Theorem 4 states that every ow can be delivered at every destination node with Near-Perfect QoS guarantees, even at 100% loads. However, a key requirement is that every active wireless edge meet a minimum SINR m and a minimum data-rate Dm , which is the subject of this paper. Experimental results will be presented in the next sections. IV. THE EDGE-SPECIFICATION MATRIX A small WMN with 9 nodes is shown in Fig. 2a. The network can be modelled as a graph G(V, E ). The dotted lines show the possible wireless edges between neighbouring BSs. The edge matrix E is shown in Fig. 2b, which shows the set of all possible wireless edges. A partial or full permutation computed by the scheduling algorithm in [8] will specify the active wireless edges for one or more time-slots. The set of active edges in a partial or full permutation must be a subset of the edge-matrix E . Therefore, the edge-specication matrix S of a partial or full permutation is a doubly substochastic or doubly stochastic zero-one matrix, ie S (u, v ) {0, 1}, uV I (u, v ) 1, and v V S (u, v ) 1. To generate the sets of active edges in this paper, 306 distinct trafc ows where routed in a 64 node WMN, as shown in Fig. 1a. If every multichannel BS has 2 radio transceivers, then each permutation can be realized in one time-slot, i.e., a BS can transmit on one OFDMA channel while receiving on a second orthogonal OFDMA channel simultaneously. If every BS has only one radio transceiver, then multiple time-slots are needed to realize each permutation. Every BS operates at approx. 96% load, a very heavy loading. Once the trafc ows were routed, a doubly-stochastic edge trafc rate matrix R was created, as described in the previous section. The matrix was quantized and decomposed using the scheduling algorithm described in [8] to yield a set of partial or full permutations for the TDMA scheduling frame. A set of active edges corresponding to one partial permutation is shown in Fig. 3a, and the corresponding doubly-substochastic edgespecication matrix for this partial permutation is shown in Fig. 3b. Figure 4 illustrates interference in a idealized 16-node hexagonal WMN, where we assume there is no multipath. Assume that each BS has 4 directional antennas, a transmit and receive antenna in each hemisphere, and 2 transceivers. In our model, each antenna is a 4 element linear antenna array. These can be programmed using the Fast Mesh Zero Forcing algorithm described in [12]: For each active edge, the transmitter directs power to the destination, while directing nulls or zeros to the other nearest neighbors. Consider an active wireless edge (5,6), as shown in Fig. 4. Assuming all edges have one color, the set of other edges which will receive interference from edge (5,6) are also shown in Fig. 4. The

Fig. 3.

A partial permutation in a WMN and the edge-specication matrix.

Fig. 4.

Interference between edges.

interference power is a function of the degree of misallignment and the distance between the transmit and receive antennas. The interference power received by each edge is precomputed and stored in an edge-interference matrix I . minimize
(u,v )E cC

Sc (u, v ) Ic (u, v )

(6)

subject to S (u, v ) =
cC

Sc (u, v )

(7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)

S (u, v ) = 0, 1 Sc (u, v ) = 0, 1 RN (c, u, v ) =

(u ,v )E (u,v )

Sc (u, v ) I (u , v ) Sc (u, v ) I (u , v )
(u ,v )E (u,v )

T N (c, u, v ) =

Ic (u, v ) = RN (c, u, v ) + T N (c, u, v )

To minimize the edge interference, a mathematical optimization problem is now formulated. Eq. 6 states that the objective of the optimization problem is to minimize the sum of interference power, after all active edges are assigned a color. Let c denote one color in the set of colors c. Let the matrices Sc be subsets of the edge matrix E which denote the
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active edges assigned to color c. Eq. 7 species that each active edge in the edge-specication matrix is assigned to exactly one color. The integer matrix S is effectively partitioned into C integer matrices Sc for c C . Eq. 8 and 9 state that every element in the matrices U and Sc are either 0 or 1. Eq. 10 identies the sum of noise power received by all other colored edges (u , v ) in color c due to edge (u, v ) being assigned to color c. Eq. 11 identies the sum of noise power transmitted by edge (u, v ) on color c, at all other colored edges (u , v ) in color c. The optimization problem is an integer programming problem in the eld of combinatorial mathematics. The exact solution may require an exhaustive combinatorial search of all possible assignments of colors to edges. To simplify the problem, a greedy approximate solution algorithm is proposed. First, edges (u, v ) are colored in a greedy (i.e., linear) order. Each each to be colored (u, v ) is assigned to an admissible color, such that 2 conditions are met. First, the sum of the received noise power at the receiver v due to other colored edges (u , v ) assigned to the same color c is minimized. This minimization is solved as each edge is colored, thereby simplifying the original equation 10. Second, the sum of the transmitted noise power at all other receivers v due to the newly colored edge (u, v ) being assigned to color c is minimized. This minimization is solved as each edge is colored, thereby simplifying the original equation 11. Under these simplications, the edge coloring can proceed in a greedy and iterative manner, where edges are colored oneby-one. V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrate typical edge colorings. Fig. 5 illustrates colorings for the 3 algorithms, the GreedyLinear, the Greedy-Random and the Least-Noise algorithms. Fig. 6 illustrates the edges assigned to the rst color for the 3 algorithms. Fig. 7 illustrates the edges assigned to the second color for the 3 algorithms. Fig. 8 illustrates the edges assigned to the third color for the 3 algorithms. In the Greedy-Linear algorithm, as each edge is colored the colors are searched in the same linear order for an available edge. This algorithm has relatively high interference, as most edges are assigned to the rst two colors, with only 2 edges assigned to the third color. However, it is quite surprising that even this algorithm yields a stable power solution. Every active wireless edge can achieve a very high SINR of 30 dB when sufcient transmission power is used. One reason for the good performance is our physical layer model, where multiple static directional antenna are used. In the Greedy-Random algorithm, as each edge is colored the colors are searched in a random order for an available edge. This algorithm lower interference, as edges are relatively evenly assigned to all three colors, and the balanced number of edges per color will reduce the interference. In the Least-Noise algorithm, as each edge is colored one admissible color which minimizes the interference is selected. This algorithm has the best performance, as the

sum interference and sum power will be reduced compared to the previous coloring algorithms. Fig. 9 illustrates the relative transmission power assigned to each edge in each coloring algorithm. We assume that each edge must have a very high relative SINR of m = 30 dB. In absence of any interference and assuming unity noise power, each transmitter requires a relative transmit power of 30 dB to achieve the target SINR. To illustrate the iterative convergence, each edge is assigned a random initial relative power level between 0 and 50 dB. Fig. 9a illustrates the edge transmission powers for the Greedy Linear algorithm. Most edges have relative transmission powers in the range of 30 to 100. However, several edges have relative transmission powers in the range of 100 to 160. This high transmission power is due to the high level of interference caused by many edges being assigned to the rst 2 colors. Nevertheless, it is interesting to observe that every edge can be congured to have a high SINR of 30, even with a simple and sub-optimal edge coloring algorithm. The main requirement to achieve a high SINR is the use of a large amount of transmission power, for the edges that experience high amounts of interference. Fig. 9b illustrates the edge transmission powers for the Greedy-Random edgecoloring algorithm. Most edges have relative transmission powers in the range of 30 to 70. However, several edges have transmission powers in the range of 70 to 110, due to the high levels of interference. The majority of edges experience moderate interference, and have moderate transmission power levels. Fig. 9c illustrates the edge transmission powers for the Least Noise coloring algorithm. Most edges have powers in the range of 30 to 50. The majority of edges experience only low or moderate interference, and have relatively low or moderate transmission power levels. The sum power required by each algorithm is an indication of how efcient the edge-coloring algorithm is. The minimum sum power for any edge-coloring algorithm is about 1800 dB, as there are at most 64 active edges in each time-slot, and the target SINR is 30 dB. In absence of interference every active edge requires a relative power of 30 dB. The sum-power for the Greedy-Linear algorithm is about 3600 units, about 100% more than the theoretical minimum. The sum-power for the Greedy-Random algorithm is about 2500 units, about 40% more than the theoretical minimum. The sum-power for the Least-Noise algorithm is about 2100 units, about 17% more than the theoretical minimum. Perhaps the most surprising result of this paper is that all three edge-coloring algorithms yield feasible (i.e., stable) power solutions, where every active wireless edge can be congured to have an arbitrarily high SINR m and data-rate Dm . These properties are required by the scheduling algorithm in [8], to guarantee that every provisioned backhaul trafc ow achieves near-perfect end-toend QoS for all loads 100%. In contrast, prior papers (i.e., [15,16]) have indicated that many power assignment solutions may be unstable, and that active edges may have to be dropped to yield a feasible solution.

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(a) Greedy-Linear Fig. 5.

(b) Greedy-Random Graph Colorings of the three algorithms.

(c) Least-Noise

(a) Greedy-Linear Fig. 6.

(b) Greedy-Random Graph Colorings - First Color.

(c) Least-Noise

(a) Greedy-Linear Fig. 7.

(b) Greedy-Random Graph Colorings - Second Color.

(c) Least-Noise

(a) Greedy-Linear Fig. 8.

(b) Greedy-Random Graph Colorings - Third Color.

(c) Least-Noise

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(a) Greedy-Linear Fig. 9.

(b) Greedy-Random Transmit Power vs iteration.

(c) Least-Noise

VI. CONCLUSIONS A scheduling algorithm to provision longer-term backhaul trafc ows in an infrastructure Wireless Mesh Network with near-perfect QoS has recently been described. The algorithm will specify sets of active edges to be realized in the time-slots of a TDMA scheduling frame. To achieve the near-perfect QoS guarantees, the algorithm requires that every active wireless edge can be congured to meet a minimum SINR m and a minimum data-rate Dm . The edges in each set must be colored to assign OFDMA channels/subchannels, such that primary conicts are eliminated and secondary conicts are minimized. The colored edges can then be assigned to timeslots in a TDMA/OFDMA scheduling frame. A mathematical optimization problem to color active edges while minimizing interference is formulated. A solution to the optimization problem requires the constrained partitioning of an integer matrix, i.e., an integer programming problem in the eld of combinatorial mathematics. A polynomial time approximation algorithm called Least-Noise coloring algorithm is presented. Extensive simulations of an essentially-saturated hexagonal TDMA/OFDMA WMN supporting backhaul trafc ows are reported. It is conrmed that all edges can be congured to achieve high SINRs and stable data-rates, and that the sum of edge transmission powers can be minimized. Our simulations conrm that for the hexagonal WMN considered, every trafc ow can be delivered with near-perfect QoS for all loads 100%, as predicted by theory [8-13]. R EFERENCES
[1] I.F. Akyildiz and X. Wang, A Survey on Wireless Mesh Networks, IEEE Radio Communications, pp. S23-S30, 2005. [2] M.J. Lee, J. Zheng, Y-B Ko and D.M. Shrestha,Emerging Standards for Wireless Mesh Networks, IEEE Wireless Commun., pp. 56-63, April 2006. [3] S. Xergias, N. Passas and A.K. Salkintzis, Centralized Resource Allocation for Multimedia Trafc in IEEE 802.16 Mesh Networks, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 96, Issue 1, pp. 54-63, 2008. [4] C.E Koksal, R.G. Gallager, C.E. Rohrs, Rate Quantization and Service Quality over Single Crossbar Switches, IEEE Infocom, 2004. [5] I. Keslassy, M. Kodialam, T.V. Lakshamn, and D. Stiliadis, On Guaranteed Smooth Scheduling for Input-Queued Switches, IEEE/ACM Trans. Networking, Vol. 13, No. 6, Dec. 2005. [6] T. Inukai, An Efcient SS/TDMA Time Slot Assignment Algorithm, IEEE Trans. Communications, No. 10, pp. 1449-1455, 1979.

Fig. 10.

Sum Power vs. iteration.

[7] W.J. Chen, C-S. Chang, and H-Y. Huang, Birkhoff-von Neumann Input Buffered Crossbar Switches for Guaranteed-Rate Services, IEEE Trans. Communications, Vol. 49, No. 7, pp. 1145-1147, July 2001. [8] T.H. Szymanski, A Low-Jitter Guaranteed Rate Scheduling Algorithm for Packet-Switched IP Routers, IEEE Trans. Communications, Vol. 57, No. 11, pp. 3446-3450, Nov. 2009. [9] T.H. Szymanski, A Conict-Free Low-Jitter Guaranteed Rate MAC Protocol for Base-Station Communications in a Wireless Mesh Network, Int. Conf. Access Networks, Las Vegas, NV, Oct. 2008. (Available at www.springerlink.com). [10] T.H. Szymanski, Throughput and QoS Optimization in Non-Uniform Wireless Mesh Networks, ACM Int. Symp. Q2SWINET, Vancouver, BC, Nov. 2008. [11] T.H. Szymanski, Scheduling and Channel Assignment of Backhaul Trafc in Infrastructure Wireless Mesh Networks with Near-Minimal Delay and Jitter, IARIA Int. Conf. Digital Society, St. Maarten, Feb. 2010. [12] T.H. Szymanski, Provisioning Backhaul Trafc Flows in Infrastructure Wireless Mesh Networks with Near-Perfect QoS, IEEE Sarnoff Symposium, Princeton NJ, April 2010. [13] T.H. Szymanski and D. Gilbert, Provisioning Mission-Critical Telerobotic Control Systems over Internet Backbone Networks with Essentially-Perfect QoS, To Appear, IEEE JSAC, June 2010. [14] K. Jain, J. Padhye, V. Padmanabhan, and L. Qiu, Impact of Interference on Multi-Hop Wireless Network Performance, Wireless Networks, 11, pp. 471-487, 2005. [15] R.A. IItis, SJ Kim, and D.A. Hoang, Noncooperative Iterative MMSE Beamforming Algorithms for Ad Hoc Networks, IEEE Trans. Communications, Vol. 54, No. 8, pp. 748-759, 2006. [16] M. Cao, X. Wang, S-J Kim, and M. Madihian, Multi-Hop Wireless Backhaul Networks: A Cross-Layer Design Paradigm, IEEE JSAC, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 738-748, May 2007. [17] T. Yoo and A. Goldsmith, On the Optimality of Multiantenna Broadcast Scheduling Using Zero-Forcing Beamforming, IEEE JSAC, 2006.

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