Power outage management and power support restoration for devices in a wireless network
First Claim
1. A wireless network comprising:
- one or more central nodes; and
a plurality of bi-directional nodes in bi-directional wireless communication with the one or more central nodes, each of the bi-directional nodes having a wireless communication path to one of the central nodes that is either a direct path or an indirect path through one or more intermediate bi-directional nodes serving as relays,wherein each bi-directional node is configured to detect when it has become stranded such that it can no longer communicate with its assigned central node via its assigned communication path due to a presumed power outage at an upstream node in the communication path, to determine a reason for its stranding, and to transmit a stranding notification and the reason therefore,wherein each central node is configurable to broadcast a stranding request that any stranded node respond to the request, and each of the bi-directional nodes is configured to either respond to the request with the stranding notification and the reason therefore or to re-broadcast the request if not stranded.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for power outage management and power support restoration for devices in a wireless network are disclosed herein. Such a wireless network may include a number of bi-directional nodes in bi-directional wireless communication with one or more central nodes. Each bi-directional node may have a wireless communication path to one of the central nodes that is either a direct path or an indirect path through one or more intermediate bi-directional nodes serving as relays. Each bi-directional node may be configured to detect when it has become stranded such that it can no longer communicate with its assigned central node via its assigned communication path, to determine a reason for its stranding, and to transmit a stranding notification and the reason therefore.
16 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A wireless network comprising:
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one or more central nodes; and a plurality of bi-directional nodes in bi-directional wireless communication with the one or more central nodes, each of the bi-directional nodes having a wireless communication path to one of the central nodes that is either a direct path or an indirect path through one or more intermediate bi-directional nodes serving as relays, wherein each bi-directional node is configured to detect when it has become stranded such that it can no longer communicate with its assigned central node via its assigned communication path due to a presumed power outage at an upstream node in the communication path, to determine a reason for its stranding, and to transmit a stranding notification and the reason therefore, wherein each central node is configurable to broadcast a stranding request that any stranded node respond to the request, and each of the bi-directional nodes is configured to either respond to the request with the stranding notification and the reason therefore or to re-broadcast the request if not stranded. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a wireless network comprising one or more central nodes and a plurality of bi-directional nodes in bi-directional wireless communication with the one or more central nodes, each of the bi-directional nodes having a wireless communication path to one of the central nodes that is either a direct path or an indirect path through one or more intermediate bi-directional nodes serving as relays, a method for re-establishing communications with a stranded bi-directional node comprising:
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broadcasting a stranding request that any stranded node respond to the request, each of the bi-directional nodes being configured to either respond to the request with a stranding notification and the reason therefore or to re-broadcast the request if not stranded; receiving the stranded notification that the stranded bi-directional node has become stranded such that the stranded bi-directional node cannot communicate with its central node via its communication path due to a presumed power outage at an upstream node in the communication path; responsively determining a new communication path for the stranded node to its previous central node or to a different central node; and transmitting an identification of the new communication path to the stranded bi-directional node via the new communication path. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. In a wireless automated meter reading network comprising one or more collectors and a plurality of meters in bi-directional wireless communication with the one or more collectors, each of the meters having a wireless communication path to one of the collectors that is either a direct path or an indirect path through one or more intermediate meters serving as relays, a method for optimizing a plan for restoring power during a power outage comprising:
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broadcasting a stranding request that any stranded meter respond to the request, each of the bi-directional meter s being configured to either respond to the request with a stranding notification and the reason therefore or to re-broadcast the request if not stranded; receiving notifications that one or more meters have become stranded such that the stranded meters cannot communicate with their central nodes via their normal communication paths due to a presumed power outage at an upstream node in the communication path; determining new communication paths between the stranded meters and their previous central nodes or different central nodes; and determining a plan for restoration of power based on the notifications received from the stranded meters. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification