Managed microcell wireless mesh network architecture
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a controlling node comprising an antenna and a controller;
a plurality of participant nodes each comprising participant units, each participant node including an electronically steerable-beam antenna and a participant controller, wherein the controlling node, based on system topology information, provides each of the plurality of participant nodes with information on an antenna direction, wherein the antenna direction of one of the plurality of participant nodes allows transmission or reception of information from another one of the plurality of participant nodes.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless network with tiered centralized control is provided. The wireless network includes a controlling node and a plurality of participant nodes. Each participant node includes an electronically steerable antenna. The plurality of participant nodes report various network information to the controlling node, such as interference and throughput measurements. The controlling node examines the network topology and provides instructions to one or more participant nodes in order to optimize the network. The instructions can include transmit and receive antenna pointing directions, assigned frequency/channel, and the amount of transmit power to use between specific participant nodes. The optimization of the network is performed to deterministically manage the capacity and reliability of the network by managing the multi-hop paths of the network so that no single path becomes congested while other paths within the network remain underutilized and to heal the network by creating new physical layer and logical layer paths around unexpected obstacles, interference, and/or broken nodes.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a controlling node comprising an antenna and a controller;
a plurality of participant nodes each comprising participant units, each participant node including an electronically steerable-beam antenna and a participant controller, wherein the controlling node, based on system topology information, provides each of the plurality of participant nodes with information on an antenna direction, wherein the antenna direction of one of the plurality of participant nodes allows transmission or reception of information from another one of the plurality of participant nodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for controlling a wireless network comprising:
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determining a topology of the network;
providing, by a controlling node, first and second antenna pointing directions for each of a plurality of participant nodes of the network to achieve the determined network topology;
receiving, by the controlling node, information from the plurality of participant nodes, the information identifying a communication parameter relative to each of the other participant nodes from which a particular participant node is able to receive signals; and
reconfiguring the network based on the information, wherein the reconfiguration includes an identification of a new first and second antenna pointing directions for at least one of the plurality of participant nodes. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. In a network comprising a controlling node and first, second and third participant nodes, a method comprising:
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transmitting a first packet from the first participant node to the second participant node;
determining that the second participant node did not receive the first packet; and
transmitting the first packet to the third participant node based on information received from the controlling node or information stored in the first participant node, wherein the information stored in the first participant node was received from the controlling node. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. In a network comprising a controlling node and first and second participant nodes, a method comprising:
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transmitting a first packet from the first participant node to the second participant node;
determining that the second participant node did not receive the first packet;
determining an adjusted communication parameter associated with the transmission of the first packet; and
retransmitting the first packet using the adjusted communication parameter, wherein the adjusted communication parameter is received from the controlling node or is stored in the first participant node, wherein the adjusted communication parameter stored in the first participant node was received from the controlling node. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification