Improving capacity and reducing delay are the most challenging topics in wireless ad hoc networks. Nodes that equip multiple radios working on different channels simultaneously permit ef-fective utility of frequency spectrum and can also reduce interference. In this paper, after analyzing several current protocols in Multi-Radio Multi-Channel (MR-MC) ad hoc networks, a new multi-channel routing metric called Integrative Route Metric (IRM) is designed. It takes channel load, inter-flow, and intra-flow interference into consideration. In addition, an MR-MC routing protocol based on Interference-Aware and Channel-Load (MR-IACL) is also presented. The MR-IACL can assign channels and routings for nodes according to channel load and interference degree of links, and optimize channel distribution dynamically to satisfy the features of topology changing and traffic frequent fluctuation during network running. The simulation results show that the new protocol outperforms others in terms of network throughput, end-to-end delay, routing overhead, and network lifetime.
