Services advertisement in a wireless mesh

• US 10,255,621 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2014
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Kuehnel, Thomas W., Manchanda, Alok, Mandhana, Taroon, Hassan, Amer A., Karki, Mukesh, Huitema, Christian, Atas, Yusuf
• Primary Examiner(s): Li, Sun M
• Application Number:
  US14/477,567
• Publication Number:
  US 20140372232A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,678 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1473, 705 144, 370311, 370328, 370338, 455 73
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/124 using a combination of metrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2514 between local and global IP addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5092 by self-assignment, e.g. picking addresses at random and testing if they are already in use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/248 Connectivity information update

Abstract

A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, a node to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports.

Claims

1. A method performed on a host computing device communicating on a mesh network, the method comprising:

connecting the host computing device to the mesh network which includes multiple computing devices that operate at distinct nodes within the mesh network and communicate using various protocols according to respective layers within a network architecture;

receiving service information for a reference computing device on the mesh network according to a layer three networking protocol, in which the service information includes a service that the reference computing device is configured to provide;

configuring the host computing device to advertise the service according to different layer protocols based on whether computing devices are connected to or not connected to the mesh network;

converting the received service information from the layer three networking protocol to a layer two networking protocol; and

advertising the service using the converted service information to a remote computing device that is outside of and not operating as one of the distinct nodes within the mesh network.

2. The method of claim 1 where the host computing device is a gateway in the mesh network.

3. The method of claim 2 where the remote computing device that is not in the mesh network is in a network that is external to the mesh network.

4. The method of claim 3 where the reference computing device in the mesh network communicates with the remote computing device in the external network via the gateway.

5. The method of claim 1 where the advertising is in response to a request for the service from outside the mesh network.

6. The method of claim 1 where the advertising is in the form of a broadcast.

7. A system comprising a host computing device communicating on a mesh network that includes memory that comprises computer-executable instructions that, based on execution by the host computing device, configure the host computing device to perform actions comprising:

connecting the host computing device to the mesh network which includes multiple computing devices that operate at distinct nodes within the mesh network and communicate using various protocols according to respective layers within a network architecture;

receiving service information for a reference computing device on the mesh network according to a layer three networking protocol, in which the service information includes a service that the reference computing device is configured to provide;

configuring the host computing device to advertise the service according to different layer protocols based on whether computing devices are connected to or not connected to the mesh network;

converting the received service information from the layer three networking protocol to a layer two networking protocol; and

advertising the service using the converted service information to a remote computing device that is outside of and not operating as one of the distinct nodes within the mesh network.

8. The system of claim 7 where the host computing device is a gateway in the mesh network.

9. The system of claim 8 where the remote computing device that is not in the mesh network is in a network that is external to the mesh network.

10. The system of claim 9 where the reference computing device in the mesh network communicates with the remote computing device in the external network via the gateway.

11. The system of claim 7 where the advertising is in response to a request for the service from outside the mesh network.

12. The system of claim 7 where the advertising is in the form of a broadcast.

13. At least one hardware-based, non-transitory, computer readable medium that includes computer executable instructions that, based on execution by a host computing device communicating on a mesh network, configure the host computing device to perform actions comprising:

connecting the host computing device to the mesh network which includes multiple computing devices that operate at distinct nodes within the mesh network and communicate using various protocols according to respective layers within a network architecture;

receiving service information for a reference computing device on the mesh network according to a layer three networking protocol, in which the service information includes a service that the reference computing device is configured to provide;

configuring the host computing device to advertise the service according to different layer protocols based on whether computing devices are connected to or not connected to the mesh network;

converting the received service information from the layer three networking protocol to a layer two networking protocol; and

advertising the service using the converted service information to a remote computing device that is outside of and not operating as one of the distinct nodes within the mesh network.

14. The at least one hardware-based, non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 13 where the host computing device is a gateway in the mesh network.

15. The at least one hardware-based, non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 14 where the remote computing device that is not in the mesh network is in a network that is external to the mesh network.

16. The at least one hardware-based, non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 15 where the reference computing device in the mesh network communicates with the remote computing device in the external network via the gateway.

17. The at least one hardware-based, non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 13 where the advertising is in response to a request for the service from outside the mesh network, or where the advertising is in the form of a broadcast.