Scheduling and routing in wireless multi-hop networks by column generation

Wireless multi-hop networks have attracted the attention of the research community in the last years. Two classes of wireless multi-hop networks are usually considered: mobile multi-hop networks, usually referred to as ad-hoc networks, and fixed multi-hop networks, usually referred to as wireless mesh networks (WMN). WMN are a promising solution to provide both indoor and outdoor broadband wireless connectivity in several environments without the need for expensive wired network infrastructures [1]. Since WMN are infrastructured networks, it is possible to plan the network resources assignment through a suitable optimization process. In this paper we address the problem of optimally exploiting the time resource in wireless multi-hop networks where the transmission time is shared among different packet transmissions. Although the proposed solution approach requires considerable computational time, WMN represent a practical scenario where high computational time can be tolerated within an almost static radio resource planning.