Shortest link scheduling in wireless networks under the Rayleigh fading model

Many shortest link scheduling algorithms adopt non-fading SINR interference model, which assumes that the received signal power will always remain determinate as long as the transmission power of the corresponding sender is fixed. In fact, because environment always influences the propagation of radio signals, the received signal power is by no means a certain value. Rayleigh fading is a statistical model for radio signals propagation. It assumes that the strength of a signal on a receiver is a random variable, varying with the Rayleigh distribution. This paper proposes a shortest link scheduling algorithm under the Rayleigh fading model (SLSRF). The SLSRF partitions the wireless network area into hexagons and colors the hexagons with three different colors such that two neighboring hexagons have different colors. The senders of the links scheduled simultaneously are arranged in hexagons with the same color. The correctness of the SLSRF is proved through theoretical analysis, and the efficiency is illustrated by elaborate simulations. Our simulation results demonstrate that the schedule delay of SLSRF is less than that of some results under the non-fading SINR interference model. Furthermore, we extend the SLSRF to a distributed version, which is suitable for large wireless networks.