Persistent Mesh for Isolated Mobile and Temporal Networking
First Claim
1. A structured mesh network capable of isolated operation, comprising:
- at least two structured mesh nodes;
wherein each structured mesh node comprises at least a connectivity logic;
an uplink radio operating on an uplink frequency and a downlink radio operating on a downlink frequency;
wherein the connectivity logic determines whether each structured mesh node connects with an external network or another node using its uplink radio and client devices or other mesh nodes connect to each node using each node'"'"'s downlink radio;
wherein the structured mesh network functions in two configurations selected depending on whether a connection to an external network is present;
in the first connected configuration the structured mesh network includes at least one structured mesh node'"'"'s uplink radio comprises a connection to an external network; and
in the second isolated configuration none of the structured mesh nodes'"'"' uplink radio comprises a connection to an external network, and one of the structured mesh nodes acts as an isolated network root of the isolated configuration and all remaining nodes'"'"' connect to the isolated network root node as isolated root children nodes forming a tree-like configuration.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A structured wireless mesh network is disclosed where a tree-like connection topology is formed. In one embodiment, each node has separate uplink and downlink radios operating on different channels. When a cluster of such nodes becomes isolated as in the case of a mobile mesh application, a node in the cluster according to this invention acts as a root node thus enabling the tree structure to persist, even in isolation. Example methods of joining sub networks are disclosed that guide the joining of mesh networks and channel management. Nodes that may operate in isolation also support a distributed DHCP capability such that IP addresses are assigned to clients even when a connection to a central DHCP server is unavailable.
48 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A structured mesh network capable of isolated operation, comprising:
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at least two structured mesh nodes;
wherein each structured mesh node comprises at least a connectivity logic;
an uplink radio operating on an uplink frequency and a downlink radio operating on a downlink frequency;
wherein the connectivity logic determines whether each structured mesh node connects with an external network or another node using its uplink radio and client devices or other mesh nodes connect to each node using each node'"'"'s downlink radio;
wherein the structured mesh network functions in two configurations selected depending on whether a connection to an external network is present;in the first connected configuration the structured mesh network includes at least one structured mesh node'"'"'s uplink radio comprises a connection to an external network; and in the second isolated configuration none of the structured mesh nodes'"'"' uplink radio comprises a connection to an external network, and one of the structured mesh nodes acts as an isolated network root of the isolated configuration and all remaining nodes'"'"' connect to the isolated network root node as isolated root children nodes forming a tree-like configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A multi-part mesh network comprising:
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a first mesh network and a second mesh network wherein each mesh network comprises; a) at least two structured mesh nodes;
wherein each structured mesh node comprises at least a connectivity logic;
an uplink radio operating on an uplink frequency and a downlink radio operating on a downlink frequency;
wherein the connectivity logic determines whether each structured mesh node connects with an external network or another node using its uplink radio and client devices or other mesh nodes connect to each node using each node'"'"'s downlink radio;
wherein the structured mesh network functions in two configurations selected depending on whether a connection to an external network is present;b) in the first connected configuration the structured mesh network includes at least one structured mesh node'"'"'s uplink radio comprises a connection to an external network; and c) in the second isolated configuration none of the structured mesh nodes'"'"' uplink radio comprises a connection to an external network, and one of the structured mesh nodes acts as an isolated network root of the isolated configuration and all remaining nodes'"'"' connect to the isolated network root node as isolated root children nodes forming a tree-like configuration; wherein a first set of frequencies, the first network frequencies, is used by the first network for communications between the nodes of the first network;
a second set of frequencies, the common frequencies, is used for communications between the two networks; and
a third set of frequencies, the second network frequencies, is used for communications between the nodes of the second network;wherein each network is in the isolated configuration; and wherein initially no communication between the first network and the second network is occurring. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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- 33. The structured mesh network of claim 33 wherein the DHCP server within each node assigns IP addresses to client devices containing one or more random numbers within the IP addresses.
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34. A structured mesh network capable of isolated operation, comprising:
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at least two structured mesh nodes;
wherein each structured mesh node comprises at least a connectivity logic and a radio operating on an uplink frequency and a downlink frequency;
wherein the connectivity logic determines whether each structured mesh node connects with an external network or another node on the uplink frequency and client devices or other mesh nodes connect to each node on the downlink frequency;
wherein the connectivity logic in each node contains a distributed routing table;
wherein the structured mesh network functions in two configurations selected depending on whether a connection to an external network is present;in the first connected configuration the structured mesh network includes at least one structured mesh node'"'"'s uplink connection comprising a connection to an external network; and in the second isolated configuration none of the structured mesh nodes'"'"' uplink connections comprises a connection to an external network, and one of the structured mesh nodes acts as an isolated network root of the isolated configuration and all remaining nodes connect to the isolated network root node as isolated root children and descendant nodes forming a tree-like configuration.
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Specification