LONG RANGE, LOW POWER, MESH NETWORKING WITHOUT CONCURRENT TIMING

• US 20130070646A1
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Published: 03/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Design Net Engineering, LLC
• Original Assignee: Design Net Engineering, LLC
• Inventors: Myers, Chris, Staarmann, Leo John, Jansen, David, French, Patrick
• Application Number:
  US13/619,392
• Publication Number:
  US 20130070646A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/255
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A first sensor node 100 includes a radio for wireless communications; a sensor module 204 to sense a selected parameter; and a scheduler 228 that selects a listen time for the first sensor node, such that, during the listen time, the radio is activated and able to receive wireless signals and, during a time other than the listen time, the radio is deactivated and unable to receive wireless signals, and causes transmission to a second sensor node of a first message. The first message includes a time offset from a transmission time of the first message, the time offset indicating a timing of a first listen time for the first sensor node. The first node 100 receives, from the second sensor node, a responsive second message including a time based on the time offset to transmit the second message.

Claims

1-7. -7. (canceled)

9-16. -16. (canceled)

18. In a distributed wireless network including a plurality of nodes, each sensor comprising a radio, a method comprising:

selecting, by a first node, a plurality of nodes as a possible parent;

assigning, by the first node, a value to each of the selected nodes, the value being a function of a plurality of a number of hops from a respective selected node to a common destination, a received signal strength measured at the first node for signals from the respective selected node, a number of child nodes associated with the respective selected node, and a remaining battery power of the respective selected node; and

requesting, by the first node, the member of the plurality of nodes having the best value to be the parent node of the first node.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, when a network message is received by the first node to be relayed to another node for delivery to a node of final destination, the first mode selects the parent node as the next hop destination for the network message.

21. A computer readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions to perform the steps of claim 18.

20. (canceled)