Grouping mesh clusters
First Claim
1. A system of radio frequency (“
- RF”
) devices that communicate energy data from an energy sensing device to an energy management station, the system comprising;
a first mesh cluster including a first RF device and an energy sensing device, wherein the energy sensing device collects energy data;
a second mesh cluster including a second RF device, wherein at least one of the first and second device is configured to shift between licensed and unlicensed frequency bands; and
a connection that groups the first mesh cluster with the second mesh cluster such that energy data collected by the energy device is transmitted from the first RF device to the second RF device over the connection using either the licensed or the unlicensed frequency bands.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for grouping mesh networks. Mesh networks enable energy data to be transferred from an energy sensing device to a destination device using various networks and reduces the need to install metering stations. Embodiments of the invention join or group mesh networks that otherwise are not able to communicate. The connections between the grouped mesh networks can be passive using directional antennas or passive antennas or active using higher power RF devices, solar repeaters, mobile mesh devices, etc. The energy data is routed in a smart manner, by performing load balancing at gateways, by monitoring the signal to noise ratio of available communication paths, etc. Mesh clusters can also be created to define low power clusters, address blocking clusters, and frequency based clusters. Grouping clusters facilitates the efficient transfer of energy data from an energy sensing device to a energy management station.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A system of radio frequency (“
- RF”
) devices that communicate energy data from an energy sensing device to an energy management station, the system comprising;a first mesh cluster including a first RF device and an energy sensing device, wherein the energy sensing device collects energy data; a second mesh cluster including a second RF device, wherein at least one of the first and second device is configured to shift between licensed and unlicensed frequency bands; and a connection that groups the first mesh cluster with the second mesh cluster such that energy data collected by the energy device is transmitted from the first RF device to the second RF device over the connection using either the licensed or the unlicensed frequency bands. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- RF”
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13. A system of radio frequency (“
- RF”
) devices that communicate energy data from an energy sensing device to an energy management station, the system comprising;a first mesh network including one or more mesh clusters, wherein the one or more mesh clusters are formed from the first mesh network by reducing an RF power of RF devices in the one or more mesh clusters; a second mesh network including an RF device; and a connection between the RF device and at least one of the one or more mesh clusters of the first mesh network, wherein energy data collected in the first mesh network is delivered to the second mesh network over the connection. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- RF”
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21. A method for grouping mesh clusters to communicate energy data from an energy sensing device to an energy management station, the method comprising:
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identifying at least a first mesh cluster and a second mesh cluster, wherein the first mesh cluster includes an energy sensing device; grouping the first mesh cluster with the second mesh cluster; identifying frequency spectrums including licensed or unlicensed frequency spectrums to be used for communication over various communication paths between the first and second mesh cluster; and transmitting energy data collected by the energy sensing device to the second mesh cluster using the identified frequency spectrums. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method for grouping a first mesh cluster with additional mesh clusters, the method comprising:
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establishing a first connection between the first mesh cluster and a second mesh cluster using at least one grouping; routing energy data from a first device in the first mesh cluster to a second device in the second mesh cluster over the first connection; and routing the energy data from the first device to the second device over an alternate connection between the first mesh cluster and the second mesh cluster when the first connection is unavailable, wherein the alternate connection is identified by the at least one device in the first mesh cluster that provides a frequency shift and that that monitors for a frequency spectrum that can accommodate transmission of the energy data. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification