Patent ID: 7826366

Claim:
A device that functions as a wireless node in an ad hoc wireless network, the device comprising: a plurality of heterogeneous radios to communicate wirelessly over at least one link on at least one channel of the ad hoc wireless network; and a channel cost metric (CCM) determiner configured to determine a CCM value, the CCM determiner comprising: an expected transmission time (ETT) determiner to determine an ETT value, the ETT value being a unit of time calculated as a function of collision probability on the link, traffic loading on the link, expected total traffic on the link, and average transmission time of one data frame across the link; and a fraction of air time (FAT) determiner to determine a FAT value that represents a total consumed air time proportion of a given interval; wherein the CCM determiner determines the CCM value utilizing both the determined ETT value and the determined FAT value such that the CCM value reflects expected transmission time on each channel as weighted by channel utilization; and a joint channel assignment and routing (JCAR) implementer configured to evaluate one or more CCM values determined by the CCM determiner and to jointly switch a channel and a route between wireless nodes in the wireless network to lower the CCM value.