NEW: A Channel Management Strategy for IEEE 802.11n

IEEE 802.11n is a newly emerging wireless standard which, relative to former 802.11 protocols, such as 802.11a/b/g, has a number of new mechanisms that enable multi-fold increases in transmission speeds. These new mechanisms include Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) transmission schemes as well as the option for channel bonding two 20MHz channels into a single 40MHz channel. Furthermore, 802.11n has the option of operating in the 5GHz range, which offers a larger number of sub-channels to operate on in comparison to operating in the 2.4GHz range, as is the case for 802.11b/g. Although significant work has been done on link adaptation in 802.11n, methods of managing the channel features available in 802.11n have yet to be performed.