Channel switching in mesh type networks

摘要

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus which enable flexible channel switching by exchanging channel information among network nodes to cumulate their view of the quality and availability of the available communication channels. The network nodes can now switch to the same channel independently of one another even when initiating a switch simultaneously.

主权项

1. An apparatus for checking channel availability to provide channel switching in a mesh network, said apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive at least one item of channel information advertised by peer nodes in said mesh network, each item of channel information comprising an indication of whether a channel in the network is available; a combiner configured to combine channel information generated by said apparatus with said received channel information thereby to provide an updated channel information, the received channel information being obtained from a received frame for measurement requesting and reporting; a propagator configured to propagate said updated channel information through said mesh network; and a selector configured to select a channel for channel switching based on said updated channel information, wherein the updated channel information corresponds to a weighted sum of said channel information having a first weight and said received channel information having a second weight, wherein said weighted sum is based on a clear channel assessment algorithm, and wherein said selector is adapted to select the channel based on said updated channel information.