DYNAMIC ENABLING OF ROUTING DEVICES IN SHARED-MEDIA COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

• US 20130010590A1
• Filed: 07/05/2011
• Published: 01/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vasseur, Jean-Philippe, Shaffer, Shmuel
• Granted Patent: US 9,264,349 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/26 Route discovery packet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/32 for defining a routing cluster membership

Abstract

In one embodiment, a non-repeated reachability probe is transmitted from a particular node into a shared-media network, where nodes that receive the probe are configured to reply to the particular node. Based on determining a set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the probe, one or more routing nodes of the set may be selected to act as routers in the shared-media network, and notified of their selection.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

transmitting a non-repeated reachability probe from a particular node into a shared-media network, nodes that receive the probe being configured to reply to the particular node;

determining a set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the probe;

selecting one or more routing nodes of the set to act as routers in the shared-media network; and

notifying the selected routing nodes of their selection.

2. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

requesting that the selected routing nodes send out a corresponding second non-repeating reachability probe into the shared-media network.

3. The method as in claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, at the particular node from the routing node, a second set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the second probe;

selecting one or more second routing nodes of the second set to act as routers in the shared-media network; and

notifying the selected second routing nodes of their selection.

4. The method as in claim 2, further comprising:

requesting that the selected routing nodes select and notify a second set of nodes to act as routers in the shared-media network based on receipt of the second probe.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein the shared-media network is a power-line communication (PLC) network.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein the particular node is a head-end node in the network.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the particular node is a routing node in the shared-media network having received notification that was selected as a router.

8. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the probe and selecting the one or more routing nodes in response to a trigger selected from a group consisting of;

a timer;

determination that a number of unreachable nodes in the network has exceeded a threshold;

determination that link quality in the network is below a threshold;

detection of network perturbations;

one or more new devices in the network;

one or more routing devices being removed from the network; and

detection of one or more isolated nodes in the network.

9. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a number of selected routing nodes based on one or more network conditions.

10. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining, in advance, all nodes in the network; and

selecting the one or more routing nodes to ensure reachability to all nodes.

11. The method as in claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting a repeated reachability probe into the network to determine all nodes in the network.

12. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

creating a directed acyclic graph (DAG) based on the selected routing nodes.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate in a shared-media computer network;

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;

transmit a non-repeated reachability probe into the shared-media network, nodes that receive the probe being configured to reply to the particular node;

determine a set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the probe;

select one or more routing nodes of the set to act as routers in the shared-media network; and

notify the selected routing nodes of their selection.

14. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

request that the selected routing nodes send out a corresponding second non-repeating reachability probe into the shared-media network.

15. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

propagate the selection of routing nodes in the network by one of either;

a) receiving, from the routing node, a second set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the second probe;

selecting one or more second routing nodes of the second set to act as routers in the shared-media network; and

notifying the selected second routing nodes of their selection; and

b) requesting that the selected routing nodes select and notify a second set of nodes to act as routers in the shared-media network based on receipt of the second probe.

16. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the shared-media network is a power-line communication (PLC) network.

17. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

transmit the probe and select the one or more routing nodes in response to a trigger selected from a group consisting of;

a timer;

determination that a number of s unreachable nodes in the network has exceeded a threshold;

determination that link quality in the network is below a threshold;

detection of network perturbations;

one or more new devices in the network;

one or more routing devices being removed from the network; and

detection of one or more isolated nodes in the network.

18. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

adjust a number of selected routing nodes based on one or more network conditions.

19. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

create a directed acyclic graph (DAG) based on the selected routing nodes.

20. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software when executed by a processor operable to:

transmit a non-repeated reachability probe into the shared-media network, nodes that receive the probe being configured to reply to the particular node;

determine a set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the probe;

select one or more routing nodes of the set to act as routers in the shared-media network; and

notify the selected routing nodes of their selection.

21. The computer-readable media as in claim 20, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

request that the selected routing nodes send out a corresponding second non-repeating reachability probe into the shared-media network.

22. The computer-readable media as in claim 21, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

propagate the selection of routing nodes in the network by one of either;

a) receiving, from the routing node, a second set of one or more nodes in the shared-media network that received the second probe;

selecting one or more second routing nodes of the second set to act as routers in the shared-media network; and

notifying the selected second routing nodes of their selection; and

b) requesting that the selected routing nodes select and notify a second set of nodes to act as routers in the shared-media network based on receipt of the second probe.

23. The computer-readable media as in claim 20, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

transmit the probe and select the one or more routing nodes in response to a trigger selected from a group consisting of;

a timer;

determination that a number of unreachable nodes in the network has exceeded a threshold;

determination that link quality in the network is below a threshold;

detection of network perturbations;

one or more new devices in the network;

one or more routing devices being removed from the network; and

detection of one or more isolated nodes in the network.

24. The computer-readable media as in claim 20, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

adjust a number of selected routing nodes based on one or more network conditions.

25. The computer-readable media as in claim 20, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

create a directed acyclic graph (DAG) based on the selected routing nodes.