METHOD AND APPARATUS TO REDUCE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF DYNAMIC METRIC ADVERTISEMENT IN SMART GRID/SENSOR NETWORKS
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving one or more advertisements of smoothed path costs to a root node of a computer network represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG) at a node in the network, each advertisement containing a field for a virtual gain factor (VGF);
determining a local smoothed path cost from the node to the root node and a local VGF for each link of the node;
computing a resulting smoothed path cost to the root node along with an associated VGF at the node based on the locally determined cost and locally determined VGF; and
advertising the resulting smoothed path cost along with the associated VGF at the node to other nodes in the network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, a node in a computer network represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG) may receive advertisements of smoothed path costs to a root node of the DAG, where the advertisements contain a field for a virtual gain factor (VGF) indicative of a difference between the smoothed path cost and an actual best path cost to the root. The node may then determine a local smoothed path cost from itself to the root, and also a local VGF for each link of the node (for the path as a whole including the particular link) based on all of the received advertisements and VGFs, as well as corresponding actual link costs (e.g., based on selecting alternative parents or actual link costs being smoothed within a dual threshold). The node may then compute a resulting smoothed path cost to the root along with an associated (cumulative) VGF based on the locally determined cost and VGF. Accordingly, the node may then advertise the resulting smoothed path cost along with the associated (cumulative) VGF on each link such that, for example, any node receiving a resulting smoothed path cost and/or VGF that surpasses a threshold may request a rebuild of the DAG (e.g., a portion or in its entirety).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving one or more advertisements of smoothed path costs to a root node of a computer network represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG) at a node in the network, each advertisement containing a field for a virtual gain factor (VGF); determining a local smoothed path cost from the node to the root node and a local VGF for each link of the node; computing a resulting smoothed path cost to the root node along with an associated VGF at the node based on the locally determined cost and locally determined VGF; and advertising the resulting smoothed path cost along with the associated VGF at the node to other nodes in the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus, comprising:
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one or more network interfaces; a processor coupled to the network interfaces and adapted to execute one or more processes; and a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to; operate as a node of a computer network represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG); receive one or more advertisements of smoothed path costs to a root node of the network, wherein each advertisement contains a field for a virtual gain factor (VGF); determine a local smoothed path cost from the node to the root node and a local VGF for each link of the node; compute a resulting smoothed path cost to the root node along with an associated VGF at the node based on the locally determined cost and locally determined VGF; and advertise the resulting smoothed path cost along with the associated VGF at the node to other nodes in the network. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method, comprising:
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receiving an advertisement of smoothed path cost to a root node of a computer network represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG) at a node in the network, the advertisement containing a field for a virtual gain factor (VGF) indicative of a difference between the smoothed path cost and an actual best path cost to the root node; determining a local smoothed path cost from the node to the root node and a local VGF for each link of the node based on the received advertisement and received VGF, as well as corresponding actual link cost; computing a resulting smoothed path cost to the root node along with an associated VGF at the node by adding the locally determined cost and locally determined VGF to the received smoothed path cost and received VGF; and advertising the resulting smoothed path cost along with the associated VGF at the node to other nodes in the network. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An apparatus, comprising:
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one or more network interfaces; a processor coupled to the network interfaces and adapted to execute one or more processes; and a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to; operate as a node of a computer network represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG); receive an advertisement of smoothed path cost to a root node of the network, wherein the advertisement contains a field for a virtual gain factor (VGF) indicative of a difference between the smoothed path cost and an actual best path cost to the root node; determine a local smoothed path cost from the node to the root node and a local VGF for each link of the node based on the received advertisement and is received VGF, as well as corresponding actual link cost; compute a resulting smoothed path cost to the root node along with an associated VGF at the node by adding the locally determined cost and locally determined VGF to the received smoothed path cost and received VGF; and advertise the resulting smoothed path cost along with the associated VGF at the node to other nodes in the network. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification