METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING DATA FLOW THROUGH A MESH NETWORK

• US 20070124443A1
• Filed: 10/16/2006
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Nanda, Sanjiv, Abraham, Santosh, Nandagopalan, Saishankar, Wang, Xiaofei
• Granted Patent: US 9,521,584 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/12 using signalling between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Traffic streams through mesh points in a mesh network are managed. Data arriving at the mesh point are aggregated in packet queues. The packet queues segregate arriving data by the data'"'"'s Quality of Service (QoS) requirement. An appropriate communication channel is selected. The communication channel is accessed through a contention access schema. An M-Request-To-Send (MRTS) message is sent to potential receiving mesh points with receiving mesh points responding with an M-Clear-to-Send (MCTS) message. Data from the packet queues is transmitted to the next mesh point. A mesh point power save mode allows battery operated mesh points to sleep preserving power.

Claims

1. A method for managing traffic streams (TS) at a mesh point in a mesh network comprising:

receiving a data packet from an access point via a wireless transmission;

storing data from the data packet in one or more packet queues;

aggregating data from the one or more packet queues into a transmit data packet; and

transmitting the transmit data packet during a transmission opportunity duration.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein placing comprises placing the data into one a first packet queue that stores high quality of service data and a second packet queue that stores best available quality of service data.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising contending for access for a communication channel.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) period to control data flow rate.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) period to control channel access frequency.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting a contention access window to control data flow rate.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting a contention access window to control channel access frequency.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting a transmission opportunity duration to control data flow rate.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting a transmission opportunity duration to control channel access frequency.

10. A method for managing traffic streams (TS) between a first mesh point and a second mesh point in a mesh network comprising:

generating at least one access parameter;

generating a message including the at least one access parameter at a first mesh point; and

transmitting the message from the first mesh point to a second mesh point, the message including at least one access parameter for use by the second mesh point.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one access parameter includes a transmission opportunity duration, a contention window minimum, a contention window maximum and an arbitration inter-frame space time.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one access parameter includes an average bit rate and a peak bit rate.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising transmitting an M-Request-To-Send (MRTS) message.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising receiving an M-Clear-To-Send (MCTS) message.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the MCTS message is steered or unsteered.

16. A method for selecting a channel at a mesh point comprising:

broadcasting a transmit beacon over a plurality of channels;

monitoring one or more received signals on the plurality of channels;

determining a signal strength of the one or more received signals; and

selecting a channel from the plurality of channels based on the signal strength of the one or more received signals.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the transmit beacon has a mesh point identifier.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the transmit beacon has a value indicating the number of hops to the mesh point.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the transmit beacon has a value that indicates the number of mesh points operating on each of the plurality of channels.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the mesh point selects the channel corresponding to the received beacon or load with the greatest signal strength.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein the mesh point selects the channel with the least amount of traffic.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the signals comprise beacons or loads.

23. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium including;

instructions for receiving a data packet;

instructions for storing data from the data packet in one or more packet queues;

instructions for aggregating data from the one or more packet queues into a transmit data packet; and

instructions for transmitting the transmit data packet during a transmission opportunity duration.

24. An apparatus for managing traffic streams (TS) at a mesh point in a mesh network comprising:

a storing module configured to store data from a data packet into one or more packet queues;

an aggregating module configured to aggregate data from the one or more packet queues into a transmit data packet; and

a transmitting module configured to transmit the transmit data packet during a transmission opportunity duration.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the one or more packet queues comprise a first packet queue that stores high quality of service data and a second packet queue that stores best available quality of service data.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising a contending module configured to contend for access for a communication channel.

27. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an adjusting module configured to adjust an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) period to control data flow rate.

28. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an adjusting module configured to adjust an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) period to control channel access frequency.

29. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an adjusting module configured to adjust a contention access window to control data flow rate.

30. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an adjusting module configured to adjust a contention access window to control channel access frequency.

31. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an adjusting module configured to adjust a transmission opportunity duration to control data flow rate.

32. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising an adjusting module configured to adjust a transmission opportunity duration to control channel access frequency.

33. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising a receiving module configured to receive the data packet.

34. An apparatus for managing traffic streams (TS) at a mesh point in a mesh network comprising:

means for receiving a data packet;

means for storing data from the data packet into one or more packet queues;

means for aggregating data from the one or more packet queues into a transmit data packet; and

means for transmitting the transmit data packet during a transmission opportunity duration.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the one or more packet queues comprise a first packet queue that stores high quality of service data and a second packet queue that stores best available quality of service data.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for contending for access for a communication channel.

37. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for adjusting an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) period to control data flow rate.

38. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for adjusting an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) period to control channel access frequency.

39. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for adjusting a contention access window to control data flow rate.

40. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for adjusting a contention access window to control channel access frequency.

41. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for adjusting a transmission opportunity duration to control data flow rate.

42. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising means for adjusting a transmission opportunity duration to control channel access frequency.

43. An apparatus for selecting a channel at a mesh point comprising:

means for broadcasting a transmit beacon over a plurality of channels;

means for monitoring one or more received beacons or loads on the plurality of channels;

means for determining a signal strength of the one or more received beacons or loads; and

means for selecting a channel from the plurality of channels based on the signal strength of the one or more received beacons or loads.

44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the transmit beacon has a mesh point identifier.

45. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the transmit beacon has a value indicating the number of hops to the mesh point.

46. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the transmit beacon has a value that indicates the number of mesh points operating on each of the plurality of channels.

47. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the mesh point selects the channel corresponding to the received beacon or load with the greatest signal strength.

48. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the mesh point selects the channel with the least amount of traffic.

49. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the signals comprise beacons or loads.

50. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium including;

instructions for broadcasting a transmit beacon over a plurality of channels;

instructions for monitoring one or more received beacons or loads on the plurality of channels;

instructions for determining a signal strength of the one or more received beacons or loads; and

instructions for selecting a channel from the plurality of channels based on the signal strength of the one or more received beacons or loads.

51. An apparatus for managing traffic streams (TS) between a first mesh point and a second mesh point in a mesh network comprising:

means for generating at least one access parameter;

means for generating a message including the at least one access parameter at a first mesh point; and

means for transmitting the message from the first mesh point to a second mesh point, the message including at least one access parameter for use by the second mesh point.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein the at least one access parameter includes a transmission opportunity duration, a contention window minimum, a contention window maximum and an arbitration inter-frame space time.

53. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein the at least one access parameter includes an average bit rate and a peak bit rate.

54. The apparatus of claim 51 further comprising transmitting an M-Request-To-Send (MRTS) message.

55. The apparatus of claim 51 further comprising receiving an M-Clear-To-Send (MCTS) message.

56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein the MCTS message is steered or unsteered.

57. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium including;

instructions for generating at least one access parameter;

instructions for generating a message including the at least one access parameter at a first mesh point; and

instructions for transmitting the message from the first mesh point to a second mesh point, the message including at least one access parameter for use by the second mesh point.