Research Article Effects of Implementing Adaptable Channelization in Wi-Fi Networks Abid Hussain 1 and Nazar Abbas Saqib 2 1 School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan 2 College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan Correspondence should be addressed to Abid Hussain; abid.hussain@seecs.edu.pk Received 31 August 2015; Accepted 17 December 2015 Academic Editor: Pedro M. Ruiz Copyright © 2016 A. Hussain and N. A. Saqib. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Te unprecedented increase of wireless devices is now facing a serious threat of spectrum scarcity. Te situation becomes even worse due to inefcient frequency distribution protocols, deployed in trivial Wi-Fi networks. Te primary source of this inefciency is static channelization used in wireless networks. In this work, we investigate the use of dynamic and fexible channelization, for optimal spectrum utilization in Wi-Fi networks. We propose optimal spectrum sharing algorithm (OSSA) and analyze its efect on exhaustive list of essential network performance measuring parameters. Te elementary concept of the proposed algorithm lies in the fact that frequency spectrum should be assigned to any access point (AP) based on its current requirement. Te OSSA algorithm assigns channels with high granularity, thus maximizing spectrum utilization by more than 20% as compared to static width channel allocation. Tis optimum spectrum utilization, in turn, increases throughput by almost 30% in many deployment scenarios. Te achieved results depict considerable decrease in interference, while simultaneously increasing range. Similarly signal strength values at relatively longer distances improve signifcantly at narrower channel widths while simultaneously decreasing bit error rates. We found that almost 25% reduction in interference is possible in certain scenarios through proposed algorithm. 1. Introduction Te rapid development of wireless technologies has shifed the whole paradigm of networking. Te majority of enter- prises now prefer wireless networks over its wired counter- part, due to cost efectiveness, mobility feature, and minimal infrastructure requirements. Few years back, Wi-Fi networks were deployed for few users per AP scenarios. Te advent of small hand held devices like smart phones, personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, and tablets has substantially increased the number and diversity of users connected simul- taneously to the same AP. Tis large user base and assortment has exhaustively tested the efciency of wireless networking protocols. Te dense population of Wi-Fi devices has com- pelled network design engineers to optimize parameters like capacity, coverage, spectrum utilization and interference, and so forth which were more or less irrelevant some years ago. In today’s and future wireless networks, the most desired goal will probably be increased network capacity, minimal interference, and optimal spectrum utilization. Te scarcity of unlicensed wireless spectrum, used by Wi-Fi networks, and further sharing of this spectrum with other electronic appliances, like microwave ovens, cordless phones, children toy remotes, and so forth, make a strong case to efectively utilize the spectrum. However, static width channels [1] used for the communication of Wi-Fi networks led to the waste of this precious resource. Te majority of today’s wireless networking protocols fne-tune several communication parameters according to ambient conditions. However, quite surprisingly, Wi-Fi networks keep width of the transmission channel static, throughout the communi- cation irrespective of environmental conditions. Tis static channelization causes underutilization of spectrum in several cases. To explain this claim, let us consider a network of Hindawi Publishing Corporation Mobile Information Systems Volume 2016, Article ID 7494903, 15 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7494903