System and method for identifying nodes in a wireless network
First Claim
1. A method for identifying a plurality of nodes that are communicatively coupled to form a wireless network, comprising:
- constructing a first data communication at a first node in a wireless network;
broadcasting the first data communication from the first node in the wireless network, wherein the first data communication is received by one or more second nodes in the wireless network;
receiving an acknowledgement message at the first node from the one or more second nodes, wherein each acknowledgement message provides an indication of the quality of the wireless network link between the first node and the particular second node that sent the respective acknowledgement message;
constructing a second data communication at each of the one or more second nodes in response to the first data communication;
broadcasting the second data communication from each of the one or more second nodes in the wireless network, wherein the second data communication is received by the first node and one or more third nodes;
disregarding each second data communication received by the first node;
receiving an acknowledgement message at a particular second node from one or more third nodes, wherein each acknowledgement message provides an indication of the quality of the wireless network link between the particular second node and the particular third node that sent the respective acknowledgement message; and
providing the first node with information about the identify of each of the one or more third nodes.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for providing a boundary scan test of a wired or wireless network having a plurality of network nodes are presented. The system includes a test station communicatively coupled with the network. The test station creates a MAC layer scan test route sequence that includes each link in the network and is independent of the routing mechanism and protocol used for the network. The test station also creates a test agent that is configured to traverse each link in the scan test route sequence. The test agent is then deployed on the network and information about a link is reported back to the test station after the test agent examines the link. The scan test route sequence can be created by sending out a series of broadcast messages from one or more nodes in the network, sequentially applying a network tour to cover the entire network, or performing a depth first search on the entire network.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method for identifying a plurality of nodes that are communicatively coupled to form a wireless network, comprising:
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constructing a first data communication at a first node in a wireless network; broadcasting the first data communication from the first node in the wireless network, wherein the first data communication is received by one or more second nodes in the wireless network; receiving an acknowledgement message at the first node from the one or more second nodes, wherein each acknowledgement message provides an indication of the quality of the wireless network link between the first node and the particular second node that sent the respective acknowledgement message; constructing a second data communication at each of the one or more second nodes in response to the first data communication; broadcasting the second data communication from each of the one or more second nodes in the wireless network, wherein the second data communication is received by the first node and one or more third nodes; disregarding each second data communication received by the first node; receiving an acknowledgement message at a particular second node from one or more third nodes, wherein each acknowledgement message provides an indication of the quality of the wireless network link between the particular second node and the particular third node that sent the respective acknowledgement message; and providing the first node with information about the identify of each of the one or more third nodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A wireless communication device, comprising:
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a processor; a data storage area; a wireless communication means; a test agent stored in the data storage area and configured to be executed by the processor to construct a first data communication and broadcast the first data communication over a wireless network using said wireless communication means, wherein the first data communication is received by one or more second wireless communication devices; wherein the test agent is further configured to receive a first acknowledgement message from the one or more second wireless communication devices, said first acknowledgement message providing an indication of the quality of a wireless link between the first wireless communication device and the acknowledging second wireless communication device; wherein the test agent is further configured to receive a second acknowledgement message from the one or more second wireless communication devices, said second acknowledgement message providing an indication of the quality of a wireless link between the acknowledging second wireless communication device and a third wireless communication device; and wherein the test agent is further configured to identify a plurality of second and third wireless communication devices that are communicatively coupled with the wireless communication device to form a wireless mesh network. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification