A Multi-interface Multi-channel Algorithm to Count Nodes Using Wireless Technology

Abstract

Abstract:In wireless networks, devices can be equipped with multiple interfaces to utilize multiple channels and increase the aggregated network throughput. In fact, as the current price of network interface cards has fallen dramatically, applications have started to use multiple non-overlapping channels to get an enhanced bandwidth, with traditional standards such as IEEE 802.11 a/b/g. In this regard, a wireless network node equipped with more than one interface can concurrently communicate with other nodes on different channels. This operation results in less interference and collisions in the network, and therefore a better use of the network capabilities in terms of bandwidth. In this paper we propose an algorithm that uses multiple channels to improve performance in the counting of objects (people, animals, devices, vehicles, etc) based on wireless communications where devices are equipped with multiple interfaces, which works either for stationary nodes or in scenarios where nodes are moving even at high speeds. In particular, the technique of interface switching is used to take advantage of all the channels, even when the number of available interfaces is smaller than the number of channels. To validate and evaluate the performance and accuracy of the proposal, the algorithm is simulated using a famous network simulation tool called OMNeT++/INET. The results of the simulations show that the proposed algorithm efficiently exploits the advantages of multi-channel, by computing a number of nodes very close to the real one (even in the case of scenarios with nodes moving at high speeds) with an acceptable response time and total number of control messages sent by the nodes to accomplish the counting task.