METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION IN A MESH NETWORK WITH NODE ACTIVITY MONITORING
First Claim
1. A wireless mesh network comprising:
- a plurality of star nodes constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals; and
a plurality of routers each constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals for communication with at least one star node, and constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals for communication with at least one other device in the wireless sensor network;
wherein at least one router maintains a list of star nodes and/or routers that have communicated with the at least one router and an indication of a time that the at least one router last received a communication from the star node and/or router.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for communication in a wireless sensor network. In one embodiment, one or more routers in a network may be available for communication with one or more star nodes at a randomized time and/or frequency. A connectivity assessment, which may be performed at several different frequencies and/or times, may be performed to evaluate the quality of communications between devices in the network. Primary and secondary communication relationships may be formed between devices to provide for system redundancy. Node activity may be monitored, e.g., based on heartbeats sent from a node, to help ensure that nodes remain active. One or more proxies may be maintained where each proxy includes a status of one or more devices in the network, e.g., one or more star nodes or routers. Proxies may be used to handle information requests and/or status change requests, e.g., a proxy may be requested to change a communication relationship between devices in the network and may generate command signals to cause the corresponding devices to make the change.
230 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A wireless mesh network comprising:
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a plurality of star nodes constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals; and
a plurality of routers each constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals for communication with at least one star node, and constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals for communication with at least one other device in the wireless sensor network;
wherein at least one router maintains a list of star nodes and/or routers that have communicated with the at least one router and an indication of a time that the at least one router last received a communication from the star node and/or router. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A wireless mesh network comprising:
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a plurality of star nodes constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals; and
a plurality of routers each constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals for communication with at least one star node, and constructed and arranged to transmit and receive wireless signals for communication with at least one other device in the wireless sensor network;
wherein at least one star node or router periodically sends a heartbeat message to a parent router, where the heartbeat message indicates that the at least one star node or router is functioning and is able to communicate with the parent router. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification