System, Device and Method for Providing Power Line Communications
First Claim
1. A method of using a power line communication node to establish a power line communications system, the method comprising:
- transmitting an Alive Notification over a power line;
receiving one or more Alive Notifications transmitted from other power line nodes via the power line;
wherein each Alive Notification includes data identifying an interface of the transmitting node;
wherein each Alive Notification further includes information identifying an interface of one or more other nodes from which the transmitting node has received an Alive Notification;
for each received Alive Notification, storing in a memory the data identifying the interface of the transmitting node and the information identifying an interface of one or more other nodes from which the transmitting node has received an Alive Notification;
transmitting routing information over the power line;
wherein the routing information includes information identifying the transmitting node;
wherein the routing information further includes information identifying one or more networks accessible by the node;
receiving routing information from a plurality of nodes;
storing the routing information in the memory;
selecting a route to a network based on the routing information stored in memory that includes the fewest nodes;
identifying a first node that comprises a first hop of the selected route; and
transmitting data to the first node.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method and device for providing a power line communication system via an ad hoc network protocol is provided. In one embodiment, the method includes transmitting and receiving Alive Notifications via a power line. Each Alive Notification may include data identifying an interface of the transmitting power line node and information identifying an interface of one or more other power line nodes from which the transmitting node has previously received an Alive Notification and reliability information all such nodes. The method may further include regularly transmitting and receiving topology information and routing information via the power line and updating topology and routing information in memory. The method may further include selecting a route to a network for transmission of data based on the routing information stored in memory, wherein the selected route includes the fewest hops and satisfies reliability requirements. The method may further include identifying a first power line node that comprises the first hop of the selected route and transmitting data to the first power line node.
375 Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A method of using a power line communication node to establish a power line communications system, the method comprising:
-
transmitting an Alive Notification over a power line; receiving one or more Alive Notifications transmitted from other power line nodes via the power line; wherein each Alive Notification includes data identifying an interface of the transmitting node; wherein each Alive Notification further includes information identifying an interface of one or more other nodes from which the transmitting node has received an Alive Notification; for each received Alive Notification, storing in a memory the data identifying the interface of the transmitting node and the information identifying an interface of one or more other nodes from which the transmitting node has received an Alive Notification; transmitting routing information over the power line; wherein the routing information includes information identifying the transmitting node; wherein the routing information further includes information identifying one or more networks accessible by the node; receiving routing information from a plurality of nodes; storing the routing information in the memory; selecting a route to a network based on the routing information stored in memory that includes the fewest nodes; identifying a first node that comprises a first hop of the selected route; and transmitting data to the first node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A method of using a communication node, comprising:
-
transmitting over a power line identifying information of the node to one or more other communication nodes; receiving via the power line information identifying the one or more other communication nodes; storing in a memory the received information identifying the one or more other communication nodes; transmitting over the power line topology information to the one or more other communication nodes; receiving via the power line topology information from the one or more other communication nodes; storing in the memory at least some of the received topology information; generating routing table from information stored in the memory; transmitting over the power line routing information to the one or more other communication nodes; receiving via the power line routing information from the one or more other communication nodes; and storing in the memory at least some of the received routing information. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method of using a communication node, comprising:
-
transmitting via a power line identifying information of the node to one or more other communication nodes; receiving via the power line information identifying the one or more other communication nodes; storing in a memory the received information identifying the one or more other communication nodes; generating routing table from information stored in the memory; transmitting via the power line routing information to the one or more other communication nodes; receiving via the power line routing information from the one or more other communication nodes; and storing in the memory at least some of the received routing information. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method of using a communication node, comprising:
-
transmitting over a power line identifying information of the node to one or more other communication nodes; receiving via the power line information identifying the one or more other communication nodes; storing in a memory the received information identifying the one or more other communication nodes; storing reliability information in memory in association with each of the one or more other communication nodes; wherein the one or more other communication nodes includes a first communication node; in response to a failure to receive information identifying the first communication node within a predetermined time period, updating reliability information associated with the first communication node in memory to reflect a reduced communication reliability with the first communication node. selecting a route from a plurality of available routes to a network for transmission of data based on the reliability information stored in memory; identifying a first communication node that comprises a first hop of the selected route; and transmitting data over the power line to the first communication node. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
-
-
29. A power line communication device, comprising:
-
a power line interface configured to communicate over a power line; a downstream interface configured to communicate with one or more power usage meters; a controller having memory storing executable program code and in communication with said downstream interface and said power line interface; wherein said controller is configured to; cause said power line interface to transmit over a power line an Alive Notification to one or more other communication nodes; receive via the power line interface, Alive Notifications from the one or more other communication nodes; store in the memory information in at least some of the received Alive Notifications; generate routing information from information stored in the memory; cause said power line interface to transmit over the power line at least some of the routing information to the one or more other communication nodes; receive via the power line interface, routing information transmitted from the one or more other communication nodes; and store in the memory at least some of the received routing information. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
Specification