WIRELESS ROUTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20060171346A1
• Filed: 01/28/2005
• Published: 08/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Subramanian, Dharmashankar, Kolavennu, Soumitri N., Mathur, Anoop
• Granted Patent: US 7,826,373 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/028 Dynamic adaptation of the update intervals, e.g. event-triggered updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/124 using a combination of metrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/248 Connectivity information update

Abstract

Wireless communications methods and systems. Metrics for measuring performance of a wireless system are generated and compared to metrics generated with an idealized simulation of the system. If the actual system performance falls below a predetermined level, the system may be reconfigured to improve performance using a centralized or decentralized method for such configuration.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing performance of a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system including a base station and a number of node devices, and operating with an actual communication configuration using communication links between pairs of devices in the system;

the method comprising;

observing link characteristics of device pairs in the system;

generating an optimized communication solution using the link characteristics;

calculating a first quality metric using the optimized communication solution;

observing the actual communication configuration for the node devices and generating a second quality metric; and

comparing the first quality metric to the second quality metric.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the optimized communication solution is characterized in that, for each node device, first and second or more non-overlapping communication routes to the base station are defined.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the actual communication configuration also defines first and second or more non-overlapping communication routes to the base station for each node device, at least some defined communication routes including intermediate nodes between the node device and the base station.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first and second quality metrics include a component related to a sum of latencies introduced by each intermediate node in at least some defined communication routes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the nodes maintains statistics on the residence time of data at that node and uses the mean of the residence time distribution as the latency value.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second quality metrics include a component related to a number of hops between a first node device and the base station.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second quality metrics include a component related to the link quality of a link used in a route defined between a first node device and the base station.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the optimized communication solution and the actual communication configuration define communication routes having intermediate nodes through which communications pass between a first node device and the base station, wherein the first and second quality metrics include a component related to the number of non-overlapping routes occurring at an intermediate node.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the optimized communication solution is characterized in that, for each node device, first and second non-overlapping communication routes to the base station are defined;

the actual communication configuration also defines first and second non-overlapping communication routes to the base station for each node device, at least some defined communication routes including intermediate nodes between the node device and the base station;

the first and second quality metrics include a component related to a sum of latencies introduced by each intermediate node in at least some defined communication routes;

the first and second quality metrics include a component related to a number of hops between at least one node device and the base station;

the first and second quality metrics include a component related to the link quality of a link used in a route defined between at least one node device and the base station; and

the first and second quality metrics include a component related to the number of overlapping routes occurring at an intermediate node.

10. The method of claim 1further comprising, if the step of comparing indicates system inefficiency beyond a predefined level, reconfiguring the system.

11. A wireless communication system comprising at least one base station and a number of node devices configured for wireless communication with one another;

wherein at least one analyzing device in or communicatively coupled to the system is configured to gather data related to actual communication routes defined in the system and observe an actual quality metric of the system communication status; and

wherein the analyzing device is further configured to generate an optimum quality metric based on an optimized communication solution for comparison to the actual quality metric.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein for each node device, first and second or more non-overlapping communication routes to the base station are defined in the optimized communication solution.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the actual communication configuration defines first and second or more non-overlapping communication routes to the base station for each node device, at least some defined communication routes including intermediate nodes between the node device and the base station.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to a sum of latencies introduced by each intermediate node in at least some defined communication routes.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to a number of hops between a first node device and the base station in at least some defined communication routes.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to the link quality of a link used in a route defined between a first node device and the base station in at least some defined communication routes.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein:

a number of optimal communication routes are defined when the mathematically optimal metric is generated, at least one optimal communication route having an intermediate node conveying data from a first node to the base station;

at least one actual communication route includes an intermediate node; and

the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to the number of overlapping routes occurring at an intermediate node.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein:

for each node device, first and second or more non-overlapping communication routes to the base station are defined when the mathematically optimum quality metric is generated;

the actual communication configuration defines first and second non-overlapping communication routes to the base station for each node device, at least some defined communication routes including intermediate nodes between the node device and the base station;

the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to a sum of latencies introduced by each intermediate node in at least some defined communication routes;

the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to a number of hops between a first node device and the base station;

the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to the link quality of a link used in a route defined between a first node device and the base station; and

the actual and optimum quality metrics include a component related to the number of overlapping routes occurring at an intermediate node.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the system is configured to have a first routing protocol for routing data through the system to a base station; and

if a comparison of the mathematically optimum metric to the actual metric indicates system inefficiency beyond a predetermined level, a new routing scheme is generated to replace the first routing scheme.

20. A wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a number of infrastructure node devices configured for wireless communication with one another, and a number of leaf devices that communicate with the infrastructure node devices;

wherein at least one analyzing device in or communicatively coupled to the system is configured to gather data related to actual communication routes defined in the system and observe an actual quality metric of the system communication status; and

wherein the analyzing device is further configured to generate an optimum quality metric by constructing an optimized communication configuration using the data related to actual communication routes.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the leaf devices comprise sensors having a sleep mode and an active mode, the sensors being adapted to awaken at scheduled times and transmit data to infrastructure node devices, each sensor being associated with at least two infrastructure node devices.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the system is configured such that first and second or more non-overlapping routes are defined from each leaf node to a base station.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the system is configured to have a first routing scheme for routing data through the system to a base station; and

if a comparison of the mathematically optimum metric to the actual metric indicates system inefficiency beyond a predetermined level, a new routing scheme is generated to replace the first routing scheme.