Mobile node data transmission rate selection

• US 20070263572A1
• Filed: 05/11/2006
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Energy Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Tropos Networks Incorporated (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Chari, Amalavoyal, Ren, Wenge
• Granted Patent: US 7,843,891 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/22 Negotiating communication rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

An apparatus and method of a mobile access node selecting a data transmission rate is disclosed. The method includes the mobile access node receiving beacons from a plurality of wireless clusters. Each beacon advertises a data transmission rate a gateway of the wireless cluster that originates the beacon. The mobile access node identifies at least one qualified routing path. The at least one qualified routing path includes a best quality routing path, and other routing paths having a quality within a predetermined margin of the best quality routing path. The mobile access node selects the data transmission rate of the mobile access node to be the lowest data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.

Claims

1. A method of a mobile access node selecting a data transmission rate, comprising:

receiving beacons from a plurality of wireless clusters, each routing beacon advertising a data transmission rate of a gateway of the wireless cluster that originates the beacon;

identifying a set of at least one qualified routing path, the set including a best quality routing path, and other routing paths having a quality within a predetermined margin of the best quality routing path; and

selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node based on the data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node based on the data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path comprises selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node to be the lowest data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data transmission rate of each cluster is determined by data transmission rate advertised within beacons originating at a gateway associated with the cluster.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the beacons are routing beacons, and a quality of each routing path is determined by a quality of received routing beacons.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the quality of received routing beacons comprises calculating a persistence of routing beacons received by the mobile access node.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the persistence is calculated by counting a number of received routing beacons over a unit of time, and comparing with a maximum number of possible routing beacons over the unit of time.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the maximum number of possible routing beacons is determined by a rate at which the routing beacons are originated at a gateway.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein each access node that receives routing beacons rebroadcasts the routing beacons at a rate at which they are successfully received.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined margin is predetermined by specifying a percentage quality at which all qualified routing paths are within the best quality routing path.

10. A method of a wireless mesh network selecting a data transmission rate of mobile access nodes within the wireless mesh network, comprising:

a plurality of gateways, each gateway originating beacons at a predetermined rate, the beacons advertising a data transmission rate of a cluster associated with the gateway that originated the beacon;

a mobile access node receiving beacons from a plurality of the clusters;

the mobile access node identifying at least one qualified routing path, the at least one qualified routing path including a best quality routing path, and other routing paths having a quality within a predetermined margin of the best quality routing path;

the mobile access node selecting the data transmission rate based on the data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the beacons are routing beacons, and the quality of the routing paths is determined by a quality of received routing beacons.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node based on the data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path comprises selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node to be the lowest data transmission rate advertised by beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the data transmission rate of each cluster is dependent on a density of access nodes within each cluster.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the data transmission rate of each cluster is dependent on distances between access nodes of each cluster.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the data transmission rate of each cluster is dependent on link qualities between access nodes of each cluster.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein each fixed access node maintains the data transmission rate of the cluster the fixed access node is associated with, and mobile access nodes change their data transmission rate depending on which cluster the mobile access node is associated with.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein possible data transmission rates are determined by an IEEE 802.11 standard.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising each access node associated with each cluster receiving beacons with associated data transmission rate, and re-broadcasting the beacons at a rate at which the routing beacons are successfully received by the access node.

19. A data transmission rate computer program operable on a mobile access node of a wireless mesh network, the computer program causing the mobile access node to execute the following steps:

receiving routing beacons from a plurality of wireless clusters of the wireless mesh network, each routing beacon advertising a data transmission rate of the wireless cluster that originates the routing beacon;

identifying at least one qualified routing path, the at least one qualified routing path including a best quality routing path based upon a quality of the received routing beacons, and other routing paths having received routing beacons having a quality within a predetermined margin of the best quality routing path; and

selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node to be the lowest data transmission rate advertised by routing beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.

20. A mobile access node of a wireless mesh network, comprising:

means for receiving routing beacons from a plurality of wireless clusters of the wireless mesh network, each routing beacon advertising a data transmission rate of the wireless cluster that originates the routing beacon;

means for identifying at least one qualified routing path, the at least one qualified routing path including a best quality routing path based upon a quality of the received routing beacons, and other routing paths having received routing beacons having a quality within a predetermined margin of the best quality routing path; and

means for selecting the data transmission rate of the mobile access node to be the lowest data transmission rate advertised by routing beacons of the at least one qualified routing path.