Relay functionality of battery powered devices
First Claim
1. A method implemented at least in part by a battery powered device, the method comprising:
- performing a short range discovery scan using a first transmission mode having a first data rate;
determining that no reply has been received in response to the short range discovery scan;
performing a long range discovery scan using a second transmission mode having;
longer transmission range than the first transmission mode, anda second data rate which is lower than the first data rate, wherein the first data rate comprises at least 50 kilobytes per second (kbps) and the second data rate comprises at most 10 kbps;
receiving a reply from a mains powered device, the reply including synchronization information;
performing a targeted short range discovery scan on a control channel that, based at least in part on the synchronization information, is a current control channel of one or more neighboring battery powered devices in a vicinity of the battery powered device;
determining that a response to the targeted short range discovery scan has been received; and
designating the mains powered device to serve as a parent for the battery powered device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are techniques to minimize the electricity consumption of battery powered devices during network communications and performance of other functions. Example techniques include efficiently discovering other mains powered and battery powered devices within communication range of the battery powered device. In another example, techniques enable a battery powered device to serve as a relay for one or more other battery powered devices. In another example, techniques ensure that transmissions to and/or from battery powered devices are delivered efficiently and with low latency. In yet another example, techniques determine whether and under what conditions a battery powered device should migrate from one network to another. In the event of migration, example techniques minimize battery consumption associated with the migration.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method implemented at least in part by a battery powered device, the method comprising:
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performing a short range discovery scan using a first transmission mode having a first data rate; determining that no reply has been received in response to the short range discovery scan; performing a long range discovery scan using a second transmission mode having; longer transmission range than the first transmission mode, and a second data rate which is lower than the first data rate, wherein the first data rate comprises at least 50 kilobytes per second (kbps) and the second data rate comprises at most 10 kbps; receiving a reply from a mains powered device, the reply including synchronization information; performing a targeted short range discovery scan on a control channel that, based at least in part on the synchronization information, is a current control channel of one or more neighboring battery powered devices in a vicinity of the battery powered device; determining that a response to the targeted short range discovery scan has been received; and designating the mains powered device to serve as a parent for the battery powered device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a battery-powered device (BPD), configure the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
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determining if migration conditions have been met for the BPD to migrate from a first network to a second network; responsive to determining that the migration conditions have been met, caching network credentials for the first network in memory of the BPD; migrating the BPD from the first network to the second network by actions comprising; sending a discovery beacon from the BPD using a long-range transmission mode having a first data rate; receiving a reply from a mains-powered device (MPD) using the long-range transmission mode, the reply including synchronization information of the second network; sending a notification to one or more other battery powered devices of the second network that are children of the MPD, the notification being sent using a short-range transmission mode having a second data rate, which is higher than the first data rate, the notification instructing the children of the MPD to monitor for a discovery beacon from the BPD; determining that the discovery beacon has not been received; and using the cached network credentials of the first network to migrate the BPD back to the first network from the second network without the BPD going through network layer registration to obtain network credentials for the first network. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method implemented at least in part by a mains powered device, the method comprising:
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receiving a discovery beacon from a battery powered device that was sent using a long-range transmission mode having a first data rate; sending a reply to the battery powered device using the long-range transmission mode, the reply including synchronization information of a network; sending a notification to one or more other battery-powered devices of the network that are children of the mains powered device, the notification being sent using a short-range transmission mode having a second data rate, which is higher than the first data rate, wherein the first data rate comprises at least 50 kilobytes per second (kbps) and the second data rate comprises at most 10 kbps, the notification instructing the children of the mains-powered device to monitor for a second discovery beacon from the battery powered device; determining that the second discovery beacon has not been received; and utilizing the mains powered device as a parent for the battery powered device. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification