DATA RATE SELECTION WITH PROACTIVE ROUTING IN SMART GRID NETWORKS

• US 20150200846A1
• Filed: 01/15/2014
• Published: 07/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hui, Jonathan W., Hong, Wei, Vasseur, Jean-Philippe
• Application Number:
  US14/155,975
• Publication Number:
  US 20150200846A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/26 Route discovery packet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/70 Routing based on monitoring results
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/30 for proactive routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/32 for defining a routing cluster membership

Abstract

In one embodiment, a device communicates with one or more neighboring devices in a shared-media communication network using a default data rate. The device determines that the default data rate is not supported by a particular one of the neighboring devices. The particular neighboring device is then associated with a second data rate that has a lower data rate than the default data rate. The second data rate is then used to communicate with the particular neighboring device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

communicating, by a device, with one or more neighboring devices in a shared-media communication network using a default data rate;

determining that the default data rate is not supported by a particular one of the neighboring devices;

associating the particular neighboring device with a second data rate, wherein the second data rate comprises a lower data rate than the default data rate; and

using the second data rate to communicate with the particular neighboring device.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein determining that the default data rate is not supported by the particular neighboring device comprises:

sending a first discovery request to the neighboring device at the default data rate;

determining that a response to the first discovery request was not received from the neighboring device;

sending a second discovery request to the neighboring device using the second data rate; and

receiving a response to the second discovery request from the particular neighboring device using the second data rate.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein the second discovery request is sent based on a determination that no neighboring devices responded to the first discovery request.

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

storing data regarding the second data rate with an identifier for the neighboring device in a neighbor table.

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

providing the data stored in the neighbor table to a field area router.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein determining that the default data rate is not supported by a particular one of the neighboring devices comprises:

receiving a unicast message from the particular neighboring device at the second data rate.

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

determining that the second data rate is a minimum data rate associated with any of the neighboring devices; and

sending a broadcast message to the neighboring devices at the second data rate.

8. The method as in claim 7, further comprising:

sending a unicast message to the particular one of the neighboring devices at the second data rate; and

sending another unicast message to a different neighboring device at the default data rate.

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

clustering network devices associated with the second data rate to a set of one or more routers.

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

receiving a node metric from a router that indicates the number of low data rate devices attached to the router; and

attaching to the router based on the node metric.

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

lowering the default data rate in response to an instruction from a field area router in the network to lower the default data rate.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate with a shared-media communication network;

a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to;

communicate with one or more neighboring devices in the network using a default data rate;

determine that the default data rate is not supported by a particular one of the neighboring devices;

associate the particular neighboring device with a second data rate, wherein the second data rate comprises a lower data rate than the default data rate; and

use the second data rate to communicate with the particular neighboring device.

13. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

send a first discovery request to the neighboring device at the default data rate;

determine that a response to the first discovery request was not received from the neighboring device;

send a second discovery request to the neighboring device using the second data rate; and

receive a response to the second discovery request from the particular neighboring device using the second data rate.

14. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein the second discovery request is sent based on a determination that no neighboring devices responded to the first discovery request.

15. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

store data regarding the second data rate with an identifier for the neighboring device in a neighbor table.

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

provide the data stored in the neighbor table to a field area router.

17. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

receive a unicast message from the particular neighboring device at the second data rate.

18. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

determine that the second data rate is a minimum data rate associated with any of the neighboring devices; and

send a broadcast message to the neighboring devices at the second data rate.

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

communicate, by a device, with one or more neighboring devices in a shared-media communication network using a default data rate;

determine that the default data rate is not supported by a particular one of the neighboring devices;

associate the particular neighboring device with a second data rate, wherein the second data rate comprises a lower data rate than the default data rate; and

use the second data rate to communicate with the particular neighboring device.

20. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a root node device, neighbor table data from a plurality of devices in a shared-media communication network, the neighbor table data comprising data rates between the devices;

determining a default data rate using the neighbor table data; and

providing the default data rate to the plurality of devices.

21. The method as in claim 20, further comprising:

determining that the network is too sparse to support a current default data rate, wherein the default data rate determined using the neighbor table data has a lower data rate than the current default data rate.

22. The method as in claim 20, wherein the default data rate is determined based in part on path costs between the devices.