Accelerated Exhaustive Algorithm Implementation for Channel Assignment in 802.11 Networks

The 2.4 GHz band is still heavily used for domestic wireless networks. As the band offers only three non-overlapping channels, in crowded environments, users can suffer from high interference level. To minimize the total interference, an exhaustive channel assignment algorithm, able to find the optimal assignment, can be considered. However, its exponential complexity makes it impractical for sets larger than just several access points (APs). In this paper, a few modifications are introduced which speed up the basic algorithm execution without deteriorating its optimality. The modifications are divided into implementation-related and algorithm-related. Introduced improvements result in over 20 times speed-up of the algorithm execution making it possible to find the optimal channel assignments for over 20-AP sets in minutes instead of hours.