Distributed network organization and topology discovery in ad-hoc network
First Claim
1. A distributed network organization method for self-organizing a group of nodes into a communication network where the nodes are all operatively connected to a shared communication medium, said method comprising placing the nodes, for up to a selected time interval, in a condition of listening over the medium for the occurrence of a message indicating the presence of a central coordinator (CCo) node, and at a point in time following the conclusion of that interval, if there has been no such message occurrence, and under the collective action the node group, creating a network topology understanding which results in the activity of selection, from the group, of a CCo, and the production of a network organization utilizing such topology understanding.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed network method for self-organizing a group of nodes into a bi-directional communication network where initially there is no central coordinator in the prospective network environment. The method involves engaging in the process of determining internodal communication capabilities en route to creating a network topology table, and then using that table as a guide (a) selecting, by nodal election, an appropriate central coordinator, and (b) establishing proxy nodes which enable full network bi-directional communication between all nodes, including otherwise communicatively-compromised hidden nodes.
194 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A distributed network organization method for self-organizing a group of nodes into a communication network where the nodes are all operatively connected to a shared communication medium, said method comprising
placing the nodes, for up to a selected time interval, in a condition of listening over the medium for the occurrence of a message indicating the presence of a central coordinator (CCo) node, and at a point in time following the conclusion of that interval, if there has been no such message occurrence, and under the collective action the node group, creating a network topology understanding which results in the activity of selection, from the group, of a CCo, and the production of a network organization utilizing such topology understanding.
-
4. A distributed network method for self-organizing a group of nodes into a communication network where the nodes are all operatively connected to a shared communication medium and there is no central coordinator node, said method comprising
engaging in the process of determining direct internodal communication capabilities, and as a consequence of said engaging, electing a best-suited central coordinator node for a network.
-
6. A method for organizing, from a group of nodes, a communication network based upon the assumption that the organized network will, initially, lack a central coordinator, said method comprising
determining which nodes in the group are optimally capable of becoming organized into a desired network, enabling the so-determined nodes effectively each to learn (a) the identities of other nodes in the group which have also been so determined, and (b), with respect to all of these so-determined nodes, the respective qualities of communication links that directly exist between pairs of the nodes, and on the basis of such learning, creating a discovered topology table which provides a guiding tool for the current definition and formation of the desired network.
-
7. A method for organizing, from a group of nodes, a communication network based upon the assumption that the organized network will, initially, lack a central coordinator, and in a setting wherein each node in the group has topology knowledge regarding (a) the identities of all other nodes in the group, and (b) the respective qualities of communication links that directly exist between different ones of these nodes, said method comprising
performing an analysis of such topology knowledge to identify the most appropriate candidate node to perform, in at least the immediate future, the role of a central coordinator node, and following said performing, collectively engaging plural nodes in the group in the selection of that candidate node to be the then-designated central coordinator node.
-
15. A distributed network method for self-organizing a group of nodes into a communication network, where the nodes are all operatively connected to a shared communication medium, certain nodes may be hidden nodes, and there is an initial assumption that there is no central coordinator node, said method comprising
engaging in a discovery process to identify the qualities of direct and indirect internodal communication capabilities, and as a consequence of said engaging, establishing, as desired, at least one proxy node to facilitate bi-directional communication with any hidden nodes.
Specification