Methods and media access controller for mesh networks with adaptive quality-of-service management
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A media access controller comprising:
- a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and
a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of a wireless mesh network,wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, andwherein, in response to the request for additional resources, a transmitting node receiving the request is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow, the transmitting node being one of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network transmitting the current application flow.
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Abstract
A media access controller (MAC) for wireless mesh networks comprises a quality-of-service (QoS) manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow. The MAC also comprises a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of the wireless mesh network. The QoS manager instructs the contention manager to employ signaling to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A media access controller comprising:
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a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of a wireless mesh network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, and wherein, in response to the request for additional resources, a transmitting node receiving the request is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow, the transmitting node being one of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network transmitting the current application flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A media access controller comprising:
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a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of a wireless mesh network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, and wherein the contention manager is responsive to requests from one or more of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network for additional resources for the current application flow, wherein the contention manager is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow in response to the requests.
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14. A media access controller comprising:
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a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of a wireless mesh network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, and wherein the quality-of-service manager is further adapted to instruct the contention manager to either allocate additional bandwidth to lower quality-of-service level application flows or delay transmissions of the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly greater than the contracted bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method for managing application flows comprising:
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monitoring consumed bandwidth of a current application flow in a wireless mesh network; comparing the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and requesting additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, wherein the monitoring, comparing and requesting are performed by a current node of the wireless mesh network, and wherein in response to the request for additional resources, a transmitting node receiving the request increases a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow, the transmitting node being another node of the wireless mesh network transmitting the current application flow. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for managing application flows comprising:
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monitoring consumed bandwidth of a current application flow in a wireless mesh network; comparing the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; requesting additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth; and responding to requests from one or more nodes of the wireless mesh network for additional resources for the current application flow by increasing a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow in response to the requests.
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28. A method for managing application flows comprising:
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monitoring consumed bandwidth of a current application flow in a wireless mesh network; comparing the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; requesting additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth and either allocating additional bandwidth to lower quality-of-service level application flows or delaying transmissions of the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly greater than the contracted bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method for managing application flows comprising:
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monitoring consumed bandwidth of a current application flow in a wireless mesh network; comparing the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; requesting additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth; admitting application flows to the network; and providing a contracted bandwidth for each admitted application flow for use in comparing with the consumed bandwidth for each admitted application flow.
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31. A wireless router comprising:
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a media access controller; and a physical layer for communicating with other nodes of a wireless mesh network, wherein the media access controller comprises; a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of the network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, and wherein, in response to the request for additional resources, a transmitting node receiving the request is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow, the transmitting node being one of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network transmitting the current application flow. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A wireless router comprising:
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a media access controller; and a physical layer for communicating with other nodes of a wireless mesh network, wherein the media access controller comprises; a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of the network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, and wherein the contention manager is responsive to requests from one or more of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network for additional resources for the current application flow, wherein the contention manager is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow in response to the requests.
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34. A system comprising:
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one or more substantially omnidirectional antennas; a media access controller; and a physical layer for communicating with other nodes of a wireless mesh network using the one or more antennas, wherein the media access controller comprises; a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of the network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, and wherein, in response to the request for additional resources, a transmitting node receiving the request is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow, the transmitting node being one of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network transmitting the current application flow. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A system comprising:
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one or more substantially omnidirectional antennas; a media access controller; and a physical layer for communicating with other nodes of a wireless mesh network using the one or more antennas, wherein the media access controller comprises; a quality-of-service manager to monitor consumed bandwidth of a current application flow and to compare the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and a contention manager to coordinate access to a wireless communication channel for communications with other nodes of the network, wherein the quality-of-service manager is adapted to instruct the contention manager to request additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, wherein the contention manager is responsive to requests from one or more of the other nodes of the wireless mesh network for additional resources for the current application flow, and wherein the contention manager is adapted to increase a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow in response to the requests.
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37. A computer-accessible medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
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monitoring consumed bandwidth of a current application flow in a wireless mesh network; comparing the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; and requesting additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth, wherein in response to the request for additional resources, a transmitting node receiving the request increases a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow, the transmitting node being another node of the wireless mesh network transmitting the current application flow. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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39. A computer-accessible medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
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monitoring consumed bandwidth of a current application flow in a wireless mesh network; comparing the consumed bandwidth with a contracted bandwidth for the current application flow; requesting additional resources for the current application flow after the consumed bandwidth is significantly less than the contracted bandwidth; and responding to requests from one or more other nodes of the wireless mesh network for additional resources for the current application flow by increasing a contention window for a lower quality-of-service level application flow in response to the requests.
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Specification