DISTANCE ADAPTIVE ROUTING PROTOCOL

• US 20080151889A1
• Filed: 12/20/2006
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Yi, Yunjung, Wright, George L., Thomas, Vicraj T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,059,544 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• 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: H04L 45/20 Hop count for routing purposes, e.g. TTL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/247 using M:N active or standby paths
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2416 Real-time traffic

Abstract

A method of routing packets in an ad-hoc network is provided. The method determines a hop count for a route. Then, a redundancy value is calculated based on the hop count. A plurality of packets containing identical payload information is then sent down a number of routes equal to the redundancy value.

Claims

1. A method of routing packets in an ad-hoc network comprising:

determining a hop count for a route;

calculating a redundancy value based on the hop count; and

sending a plurality of packets containing identical payload information down a number of routes equal to the redundancy value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the packets further comprises:

concurrently sending all the packets.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

discovering a plurality of routes to a destination;

selecting a primary route from the plurality of routes thereby designating all other routes of the plurality of routes as backup routes, wherein determining a hop count determines a hop count for the primary route; and

selecting at least one redundant route from the backup routes, wherein the number of routes includes the primary route and the at least one redundant route.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting at least one redundant route further comprises:

choosing a maximum disjointed path from the primary route.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forwarding packets with longer routes quicker than packets with shorter routes.

6. A method of routing packets comprising:

determining a distance to a destination;

calculating a redundancy value based on the distance to the destination; and

sending a number of packets equal to the redundancy value toward the destination, wherein each packet has the same payload information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein sending a number of packets further comprises:

using configuration aware routing to send at least one of the packets.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein determining a distance further comprises:

counting the number of hops on a route to the destination.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein sending a number of packets further comprises:

sending all the packets down the same route.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

discovering a plurality of routes to a destination;

selecting a primary route from the plurality of routes, thereby designating as backup routes all routes not selected as the primary route from the plurality of routes;

selecting at least one redundant route from the backup routes; and

wherein sending a number of packets, sends at least one packet down the primary route and at least one packet down the at least one redundant route

11. The method of claim 10, wherein selecting at least one redundant route further comprises:

selecting a number of routes equal to the redundancy value minus one; and

wherein sending a number of packets further comprises sending one packet down the primary route and one packet down each redundant route.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein selecting at least one redundant route further comprises:

selecting a maximum disjointed path from the primary route.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving one of the number of packets at a node;

incrementing an aging value for the packet; and

prioritizing a plurality of packets including the received packet, based on the aging value of each packet.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein prioritizing the plurality of packets further comprises:

providing a plurality of priority queues; and

placing packets of similar priority in the same queue.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein calculating a redundancy value further comprises:

calculating an error probability based on the distance to the destination; and

calculating a redundancy value based on the error probability and a desired error rate.

16. The method of claim 6, wherein sending a number of packets is sending a first round of packets, the method further comprising:

sending at least a second round of packets;

receiving at the destination at least one of the second round of packets prior to the first round of packets; and

re-ordering the received packets.

17. The method of claim 6, wherein determining a distance further comprises:

determining the physical distance to the destination.

18. A method of processing packets at a node comprising:

receiving a packet;

incrementing an aging value for the packet;

prioritizing a plurality of packets including the received packet, based on the aging value of each packet; and

forwarding the packets based on their priority.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

providing a plurality of priority queues; and

placing packets of similar priority in the same queue; and

wherein forwarding the packets takes packets from the plurality of priority queues.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein prioritizing further comprises:

adding the aging value to an existing priority value of the packet; and

wherein prioritizing the plurality of packets prioritizes based on the priority value including the aging value.