DISCOVERY OF A SET OF NODES IN A NETWORK

• US 20160308728A1
• Filed: 06/24/2016
• Published: 10/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hunkeler, Urs, Lombriser, Clemens, Truong, Hong Linh
• Granted Patent: US 10,027,552 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/34 Source routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery

Abstract

Methods and systems for discovery of a set of nodes in a network. The method comprises selecting a node amongst nodes in a group of nodes to be processed; and instructing to implement a discovery procedure for the selected node. The procedure comprises broadcasting a neighbor discovery request from a node currently selected on a shared transmission medium of the network; and receiving at the node currently selected replies sent by neighbor nodes on the shared transmission medium and adding the neighbor nodes to the group of nodes to be processed; and repeating the steps of selecting and instructing for other nodes in the group of nodes to be processed, until all nodes of the set are discovered.

Claims

1. A method of discovery of a set of computer nodes in a computerized network, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a computer node amongst computer nodes in a group of computer nodes to be processed; and

(b) instructing from a source computer node to implement a discovery procedure for the selected computer node via a source routing mechanism based on source routing information of the selected node previously detected, said discovery procedure comprising broadcasting a neighbor discovery request from a computer node currently selected on a shared transmission medium of the network and receiving at the computer node currently selected replies sent by neighbor computer nodes on the shared transmission medium;

(c) receiving at the source computer node the selected replies sent by neighbor computer nodes to the computer node currently selected;

(d) adding said neighbor computer nodes to the group of computer nodes to be processed; and

(e) iteratively changing the selected computer node by repeating steps (a) through (d) for other computer nodes in the group of computer nodes to be processed, until all computer nodes of the set are discovered.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein repeating the steps (a) through (d) for other computer nodes is triggered after receiving at least one reply, and preferably after receiving several replies, during the discovery procedure for a computer node currently selected.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

instructing to implement a link probing procedure for a selected computer node, said link probing procedure comprising;

sending from a computer node currently selected one or more link probing messages to neighbor computer nodes for subsequent measure of link quality, wherein sending preferably comprises broadcasting said one or more link probing messages on the shared transmission medium.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the link probing procedure is implemented for a selected computer node after completion of the discovery procedure for at least said selected computer node, and preferably after all computer nodes of the set of computer nodes have been discovered.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein implementation of the link probing procedure is interlaced with the discovery procedure, such that at least one of the replies received when implementing the discovery procedure for a selected computer node comprises data related to a measure of link quality between the computer node currently selected and a neighbor computer node.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sending said one or more link probing messages is carried out before broadcasting said neighbor discovery request.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the replies received when implementing a discovery procedure for a selected computer node were unicasted by neighbor computer nodes.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the replies received when implementing a discovery procedure for a selected computer node were unicasted by neighbor computer nodes using a CSMA-like protocol, whereby each of said replies was sent in absence of other traffic on the shared medium.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the replies received when implementing a discovery procedure for a selected computer node are taken in consideration at said selected computer node during a limited time only.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of broadcasting a neighbor discovery request is repeated, wherein preferably the neighbor discovery request comprises information as to whether a neighbor computer node should reply or not.

11. A method of using a network comprising a set of computer nodes, comprising:

discovering computer nodes in said set of computer nodes according to the method of claim 1; and

let discovered computer nodes communicate using time-division multiplexing.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the source computer node is a base station.

13. A computer program residing on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing computer nodes of a computerized network to implement the steps of:

(a) selecting a computer node amongst computer nodes in a group of computer nodes to be processed; and

(b) instructing from a source computer node to implement a discovery procedure for the selected computer node via a source routing mechanism based on source routing information of the selected node previously detected, said discovery procedure comprising broadcasting a neighbor discovery request from a computer node currently selected on a shared transmission medium of the network and receiving at the computer node currently selected replies sent by neighbor computer nodes on the shared transmission medium;

(c) receiving at the source computer node the selected replies sent by neighbor computer nodes to the computer node currently selected;

(d) adding said neighbor computer nodes to the group of computer nodes to be processed; and

(e) iteratively changing the selected computer node by repeating steps (a) through (d) for other computer nodes in the group of computer nodes to be processed, until all computer nodes of the set are discovered.

14. A computerized network comprising computer nodes, each with at least one processor comprising hardware operatively interconnected to a memory, whereby the computerized network is configured to implement the steps of:

(a) selecting a computer node amongst computer nodes in a group of computer nodes to be processed; and

(b) instructing from a source computer node to implement a discovery procedure for the selected computer node via a source routing mechanism based on source routing information of the selected node previously detected, said discovery procedure comprising broadcasting a neighbor discovery request from a computer node currently selected on a shared transmission medium of the network and receiving at the computer node currently selected replies sent by neighbor computer nodes on the shared transmission medium;

(c) receiving at the source computer node the selected replies sent by neighbor computer nodes to the computer node currently selected;

(d) adding said neighbor computer nodes to the group of computer nodes to be processed; and

(e) iteratively changing the selected computer node by repeating steps (a) through (d) for other computer nodes in the group of computer nodes to be processed, until all computer nodes of the set are discovered.

15. The computerized network of claim 14, wherein the computer nodes are sensor computer nodes.