Method of dynamic management of a virtual local area network (VLAN) in a wireless ad hoc network

• US 20060013171A1
• Filed: 07/16/2004
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kumar, Surender, Ahuja, Ramandeep, Derango, Mario F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,379,443 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4675 Dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes configuration of the network or of network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding

Abstract

In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes (102), when a method of the present invention determines that a source node and a destination node belong to a common virtual local area network (VLAN), information is routed to the destination node using only nodes that belong to the common VLAN. If a path is not available to route the information between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belong to the common VLAN, a default VLAN is used to route the information at least partially through the ad hoc network. If, however, the method of the present invention determines that the source node belongs to a first VLAN and the destination node belongs to a second VLAN, the source node or an intermediate node registers with the second VLAN and continues routing the information using nodes that belong to the second VLAN.

Claims

1. In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, a method comprising the steps of:

determining that a source node and a destination node belong to a common VLAN; and

routing information to the destination node through the ad hoc network using only nodes that belong to the common VLAN.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of, if a path is not available to route the information between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belong to the common VLAN, using a default VLAN to route the information at least partially through the ad hoc network.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of using a default VLAN is performed by a node that does not have a neighboring node that belongs to the common VLAN.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein each node used to route the information independently determines through which of its neighboring nodes to route the information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the source node determines a desired route to route the information through the ad hoc network to the destination node.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the VLAN to which a node belongs is predefined in the node.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein each node in the ad hoc network requests membership to a VLAN.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of repeating the steps of claim 1 until the information reaches the destination node.

8. In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, a method comprising the steps of:

at a node belonging to a first virtual local area network (VLAN);

determining that a destination node belongs to the first VLAN;

determining to which VLAN each neighboring node belongs; and

if there is at least one neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN, sending the information only to a neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein, if there is more than one neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN, the step of sending the information only to a neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN is based on at least one of the following:

proximity to the destination node, radio frequency characteristics of the neighboring node, signal to noise ratio of the neighboring node, congestion characteristics of the neighboring node, and delay characteristics of the neighboring node.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of, if there is not a neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN, using a default VLAN to send the information to a neighboring node that belongs to a second VLAN.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the steps of:

at the neighboring node that belongs to the second VLAN;

determining to which VLAN each neighboring node belongs; and

if there is at least one neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN, sending the information only to a neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the neighboring node that belongs to the second VLAN sends the information to the neighboring node that belongs to the first VLAN via the default VLAN.

14. In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, a method comprising the steps of:

at a node belonging to a first virtual local area network (VLAN);

determining that a destination node belongs to a second VLAN;

determining to which VLAN each neighboring node belongs;

registering with the second VLAN; and

sending the information only to a neighboring node that belongs to the second VLAN.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the node registers with the second VLAN via a neighboring node that belongs to the second VLAN.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the node registers with the second VLAN via a central managing node.

17. In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, a method comprising the steps of:

determining that a source node and a destination node belong to a first virtual local area network (VLAN);

determining whether a route between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belong to the first VLAN; and

if there is at least one route between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belongs to the first VLAN, sending information through the ad hoc network along a route between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belongs to the first VLAN.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of, if there is not a route between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belong to the first VLAN, sending information through the ad hoc network along a route between the source node and the destination node using a highest percentage of nodes that belong to the first VLAN.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of using a default VLAN to route the information through the nodes in the route that belong to a different VLAN.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of identifying a set of nodes that will use a default VLAN to route information along the route, wherein the set of nodes comprises one or more nodes.

21. In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, a method comprising the steps of:

determining that a source node belongs to a first virtual local area network (VLAN), and a destination node belongs to a second VLAN;

determining a route between the source node and the destination node using a highest percentage of nodes that belong to the second VLAN; and

sending information between the source node and the destination node through the ad hoc network along the route.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising the step of registering with the second VLAN.

23. In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, a method comprising the steps of:

at a first node;

identifying a first virtual local area network (VLAN) in which the first node belongs;

determining that a destination node belongs to a second VLAN;

determining that the first node has a neighboring node belonging to the second VLAN;

registering with the second VLAN; and

sending the information from the first node to the destination node through the ad hoc network using only the nodes that belong to the second VLAN.