Dynamic wireless meshing network for supporting load balance and flow control

• US 7,412,245 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2005
• Issued: 08/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpha Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alpha Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Guo, Ming-Wang
• Primary Examiner(s): TRINH, TAN H
• Application Number:
  US11/262,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20070099624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 455/453, 455/522, 455/456.2, 455/41.2, 455/504, 455/525, 370/328, 370/326, 370/400, 370/338, 370/343, 370/471, 370/472, 370/235, 370/238, 709/242
• US Class Current: 455/453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/20 Hop count for routing purposes, e.g. TTL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/10 Flow control between communication endpoints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dynamic wireless meshing network system, which applies a management frame stipulated in IEEE 802.11 standard for regulating access point (AP) to a wireless distribution system (WDS) mode and adds an information element (IE) to the management frame, enabling an AP to select another AP having smaller hop count value and service hop count value to establish a wireless link therewith according to information in a hop count field and a service hop count field of the IE provided by the another AP and to determine whether a wireless link therebetween should be established according to information of real time network flow in a RunOutofVport field of the same IE for achieving the goal of establishing a dynamic wireless meshing network system with high efficiency, low loading and simple topology for supporting load balance and flow control.

Claims

1. A dynamic wireless meshing network for supporting load balance and flow control, the wireless meshing network being implemented in a wireless distribution system (WDS) mode such that in response to sending a management frame having an information element (IE) from an access point (AP), each of other APs receiving the management frame is capable of automatically establishing a meshing of the wireless network in a wire network infrastructure based on information contained in a plurality of fields of the IE, the IE comprising:

an Element ID field for storing an ID of the IE;

a Length field for storing a total length of the IE;

a Current Group ID (CGID) field for representing a group ID of the AP when the wireless meshing network performs such that other APs are adapted to be aware of whether a specific group exists and operates;

a Role of AP field for representing a current role of the AP when the wireless meshing network performs;

a Sequence field for representing a sequence number of a latest available IE and for indicating an existence of a specific group;

a MACofRootAP field for representing a MAC value of a root AP in the group; and

a hop count field for representing a sum of the number of wireless links and the number of wire links that the AP connected to the wire network wherein one of the wireless links and the wire links is a wire link and the remaining ones are wireless links.

2. The wireless meshing network of claim 1, wherein the IE further comprises a service hop count field for representing the number of APs not in direct connection to the wire network such that the APs are required to connect to the wire network via a service provided by the AP, and wherein the number of the APs not in direct connection to the wire network is the service hop count of the AP.

3. The wireless meshing network of claim 2, wherein the IE further comprises a RunOutofVport field for representing whether the AP is capable of establishing one or more physical wireless links.

4. The wireless meshing network of claim 3, wherein the IE further comprises a unique selection link field for representing that there is a unique AP having a minimum value of a hop count field in all other APs within a signal communication range of the AP.

5. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein a value of the hop count field comprises:

an optimal hop count for representing an optimal value of a hop count when the AP is in a ready state but not establishing a link with a minimum hop count contained in a received packet being stored in the hop count field when the AP is in its signal communication range;

or

a current hop count for representing a value of the current hop count when the AP is in a stable state establishing a link.

6. The wireless meshing network of claim 5, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

7. The wireless meshing network of claim 6, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

8. The wireless meshing network of claim 7, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

9. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein a value of the service hop count field comprises:

an optimal service hop count for representing an optimal value of a service hop count of all APs having an optimal hop count when the AP is in a ready state but not establishing a link;

or

a current service hop count for representing a value of the current service hop count when the AP is in a stable state establishing a link.

10. The wireless meshing network of claim 9, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

11. The wireless meshing network of claim 10, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

12. The wireless meshing network of claim 11, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

13. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein a value of the RunOutofVport field comprises:

a first mode of not allowing the AP to establish a wireless link with other APs;

or

a second mode of allowing the AP to establish a wireless link with other APs, and wherein a real time network flow indicated by the RunOutofVport field is provided to the AP such that the other APs are capable of determining whether a link with the AP should be established based on the real time network flow.

14. The wireless meshing network of claim 13, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

15. The wireless meshing network of claim 14, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

16. The wireless meshing network of claim 15, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

17. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein a value of the Sequence field is adapted to enable the AP receiving the management frame to negotiate for obtaining a unique Root AP based on whether the value of the Sequence field of the IE is more senior.

18. The wireless meshing network of claim 17, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

19. The wireless meshing network of claim 18, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

20. The wireless meshing network of claim 19, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

21. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein the Role of AP field is a Hello field for representing which role of an AP is when the AP is sending the IE.

22. The wireless meshing network of claim 21, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

23. The wireless meshing network of claim 22, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

24. The wireless meshing network of claim 23, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

25. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein an AP sending the management frame is adapted to maintain the value of each field of the IE based on setting and state of the AP.

26. The wireless meshing network of claim 25, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

27. The wireless meshing network of claim 26, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

28. The wireless meshing network of claim 27, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

29. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein the value of each field of the IE is adapted to enable an AP receiving the management frame to determine an operating state of other APs for determining whether a physical link is to be established.

30. The wireless meshing network of claim 29, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

31. The wireless meshing network of claim 30, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

32. The wireless meshing network of claim 31, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

33. The wireless meshing network of claim 4, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

34. The wireless meshing network of claim 33, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

35. The wireless meshing network of claim 34, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

36. The wireless meshing network of claim 3, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

37. The wireless meshing network of claim 36, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

38. The wireless meshing network of claim 37, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

39. The wireless meshing network of claim 2, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

40. The wireless meshing network of claim 39, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

41. The wireless meshing network of claim 40, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

42. The wireless meshing network of claim 1, wherein the IE further comprises a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join such that a plurality of different APs with the same DGID have the highest priority of establishing a wireless link therebetween.

43. The wireless meshing network of claim 30, wherein the IE further comprises an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID.

44. The wireless meshing network of claim 43, wherein the Escape field is adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group are in the unacceptable escape mode.

45. A dynamic wireless meshing network for supporting load balance and flow control, and implementing a management frame in wireless network protocol for defining an access points (AP) in a wireless distribution system (WDS) mode, the management frame having an information element (IE) including a hop count field for representing a sum of the number of wireless links and the number of wire links that an AP connected to the wire network wherein an AP about to join a stable wireless meshing network is adapted to receive a management frame from one of other APs in the wireless meshing network, analyze and compare values of the hop count fields, and select an AP having a smaller hop count value as one to establish a wireless link therewith.

46. The wireless meshing network of claim 45, wherein the IE further comprises a service hop count field for representing the number of APs not in direct connection to the wire network such that the APs are required to connect to the wire network via a service provided by a predetermined AP, the number of the APs not in direct connection to the wire network is the service hop count of the predetermined AP, and the AP about to join the stable wireless meshing network is adapted to receive a management frame from one of other APs in the wireless meshing network, analyze and compare values of the service hop count fields, and select an AP having a smaller service hop count value as one to establish a wireless link therewith.

47. The wireless meshing network of claim 46, wherein the IE further comprises a RunOutofVport field for representing whether an AP is capable of establishing a wireless link, the RunOutofVport field including a first mode of not allowing the AP to establish a wireless link with other APs and a second mode of allowing the AP to establish a wireless link with other APs, and wherein a real time network flow indicated by the RunOutofVport field is provided to the AP in the second mode such that the AP about to join the stable wireless meshing network is adapted to receive a management frame from one of other APs in the wireless meshing network, analyze and compare values of the RunOutofVport fields, and select an AP having a less network flow as one to establish a wireless link therewith.

48. The wireless meshing network of claim 47, wherein the AP about to join the stable wireless meshing network is adapted to receive a management frame from one of other APs in the wireless meshing network, analyze and compare values of the hop count fields, the service hop count fields, and the RunOutofVport fields, determine that there are at least two APs having substantially the same link conditions without heavy load, and select an AP having a stronger signal based on signal strength as one to establish a wireless link therewith.

49. The wireless meshing network of claim 48, wherein the IE further comprises:

a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join; and

an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID, the Escape field being adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode wherein APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode are adapted to set a root AP and send the management packet via the root AP to inform other APs that the unacceptable escape mode has a priority higher than that of other modes.

50. The wireless meshing network of claim 49, wherein the IE further comprises a unique selection link field for representing that there is a unique AP having a minimum value of a hop count field in all other APs within a signal communication range of a predetermined AP, and wherein the AP is about to establish a wireless link with the predetermined AP the unique selection link field is enabled so as to inform the predetermined AP in a negotiation phase that once the unique selection link field is enabled a MAC address of the predetermined AP is filled in the unique selection link field instead of sending the management packet of the predetermined AP by broadcasting, and the AP is capable of establishing a link with the predetermined AP.

51. The wireless meshing network of claim 50, wherein in response to moving the predetermined AP to be in partial signal coverage with a first one of other APs, the unique selection link field associated with the predetermined AP is disabled, a link between the predetermined AP and the first one of other APs is interrupted when the predetermined AP is aware that there are fewer subsequent APs to be serviced by the first one of the other APs, and a wireless link between the predetermined AP and a second one of the other APs is established.

52. The wireless meshing network of claim 49, wherein in response to comparing a first condition of a service hop count difference between two APs having a minimum hop count within a signal communication range of the predetermined AP before linking is changed with a second condition of a service hop count difference between the same APs having a minimum hop count within the signal communication range of the predetermined AP after linking is changed, either the predetermined AP is adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is larger than the second condition or the predetermined AP is not adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is not larger than the second condition.

53. The wireless meshing network of claim 47, wherein the IE further comprises:

a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join; and

an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID, the Escape field being adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode wherein APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode are adapted to set a root AP and send the management packet via the root AP to inform other APs that the unacceptable escape mode has a priority higher than that of other modes.

54. The wireless meshing network of claim 53, wherein the IE further comprises a unique selection link field for representing that there is a unique AP having a minimum value of a hop count field in all other APs within a signal communication range of a predetermined AP, and wherein the AP is about to establish a wireless link with the predetermined AP the unique selection link field is enabled so as to inform the predetermined AP in a negotiation phase that once the unique selection link field is enabled a MAC address of the predetermined AP is filled in the unique selection link field instead of sending the management packet of the predetermined AP by broadcasting, and the AP is capable of establishing a link with the predetermined AP.

55. The wireless meshing network of claim 54, wherein in response to moving the predetermined AP to be in partial signal coverage with a first one of other APs, the unique selection link field associated with the predetermined AP is disabled, a link between the predetermined AP and the first one of other APs is interrupted when the predetermined AP is aware that there are fewer subsequent APs to be serviced by the first one of the other APs, and a wireless link between the predetermined AP and a second one of the other APs is established.

56. The wireless meshing network of claim 53, wherein in response to comparing a first condition of a service hop count difference between two APs having a minimum hop count within a signal communication range of the predetermined AP before linking is changed with a second condition of a service hop count difference between the same APs having a minimum hop count within the signal communication range of the predetermined AP after linking is changed, either the predetermined AP is adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is larger than the second condition or the predetermined AP is not adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is not larger than the second condition.

57. The wireless meshing network of claim 46, wherein the IE further comprises:

a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join; and

an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID, the Escape field being adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode wherein APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode are adapted to set a root AP and send the management packet via the root AP to inform other APs that the unacceptable escape mode has a priority higher than that of other modes.

58. The wireless meshing network of claim 57, wherein the IE further comprises a unique selection link field for representing that there is a unique AP having a minimum value of a hop count field in all other APs within a signal communication range of a predetermined AP, and wherein the AP is about to establish a wireless link with the predetermined AP the unique selection link field is enabled so as to inform the predetermined AP in a negotiation phase that once the unique selection link field is enabled a MAC address of the predetermined AP is filled in the unique selection link field instead of sending the management packet of the predetermined AP by broadcasting, and the AP is capable of establishing a link with the predetermined AP.

59. The wireless meshing network of claim 58, wherein in response to moving the predetermined AP to be in partial signal coverage with a first one of other APs, the unique selection link field associated with the predetermined AP is disabled, a link between the predetermined AP and the first one of other APs is interrupted when the predetermined AP is aware that there are fewer subsequent APs to be serviced by the first one of the other APs, and a wireless link between the predetermined AP and a second one of the other APs is established.

60. The wireless meshing network of claim 57, wherein in response to comparing a first condition of a service hop count difference between two APs having a minimum hop count within a signal communication range of the predetermined AP before linking is changed with a second condition of a service hop count difference between the same APs having a minimum hop count within the signal communication range of the predetermined AP after linking is changed, either the predetermined AP is adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is larger than the second condition or the predetermined AP is not adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is not larger than the second condition.

61. The wireless meshing network of claim 45, wherein the IE further comprises:

a Default Group ID (DGID) field for representing a group ID of a group that an AP wants to join; and

an Escape field for representing whether an AP is capable of accepting to establish a wireless link with another AP having a different DGID, the Escape field being adapted to represent an acceptable escape mode, an unacceptable escape mode, or all APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode wherein APs in the same group being in the unacceptable escape mode are adapted to set a root AP and send the management packet via the root AP to inform other APs that the unacceptable escape mode has a priority higher than that of other modes.

62. The wireless meshing network of claim 61, wherein the IE further comprises a unique selection link field for representing that there is a unique AP having a minimum value of a hop count field in all other APs within a signal communication range of a predetermined AP, and wherein the AP is about to establish a wireless link with the predetermined AP the unique selection link field is enabled so as to inform the predetermined AP in a negotiation phase that once the unique selection link field is enabled a MAC address of the predetermined AP is filled in the unique selection link field instead of sending the management packet of the predetermined AP by broadcasting, and the AP is capable of establishing a link with the predetermined AP.

63. The wireless meshing network of claim 62, wherein in response to moving the predetermined AP to be in partial signal coverage with a first one of other APs, the unique selection link field associated with the predetermined AP is disabled, a link between the predetermined AP and the first one of other APs is interrupted when the predetermined AP is aware that there are fewer subsequent APs to be serviced by the first one of the other APs, and a wireless link between the predetermined AP and a second one of the other APs is established.

64. The wireless meshing network of claim 61, wherein in response to comparing a first condition of a service hop count difference between two APs having a minimum hop count within a signal communication range of the predetermined AP before linking is changed with a second condition of a service hop count difference between the same APs having a minimum hop count within the signal communication range of the predetermined AP after linking is changed, either the predetermined AP is adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is larger than the second condition or the predetermined AP is not adapted to change the link if it is determined that the first condition is not larger than the second condition.