Route and link evaluation in wireless mesh communications networks
First Claim
1. A method of communicating data between nodes in a network, comprising:
- sending, from a first node to a second node, a polling communication to determine if the second node is available;
receiving, by the first node, a first acknowledgement, the first acknowledgement indicating receipt of the polling communication by the second node and further indicating that the second node is available and listening for evaluation data to be sent from the first node;
based on receiving the first acknowledgement, which indicates that the second node is available and listening for the evaluation data to be sent from the first node, sending, from the first node, the evaluation data to the second node;
receiving, by the first node, a second acknowledgement, indicating that the second node has received the evaluation data sent from the first node;
calculating a success percentage between the first and second nodes based on whether the first node receives the second acknowledgement or whether the first node fails to receive the second acknowledgement; and
using the calculated success percentage to determine a link cost between the first node and the second node and, further, using the determined link cost in making routing decisions within the network.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for providing a network and routing protocol for utility services are disclosed. A method includes discovering a utility network. Neighboring nodes are discovered and the node listens for advertised routes for networks from the neighbors. The node is then registered with one or more utility networks, receiving a unique address for each network registration. Each upstream node can independently make forwarding decisions on both upstream and downstream packets, i.e., choose the next hop according to the best information available to it. The node can sense transient link problems, outage problems and traffic characteristics. Information is used to find the best route out of and within each network. Each network node maintains multi-egress, multi-ingress network routing options both for itself and the node(s) associated with it. The node is capable of several route maintenance functions utilizing the basic routing protocol and algorithms.
14 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A method of communicating data between nodes in a network, comprising:
-
sending, from a first node to a second node, a polling communication to determine if the second node is available; receiving, by the first node, a first acknowledgement, the first acknowledgement indicating receipt of the polling communication by the second node and further indicating that the second node is available and listening for evaluation data to be sent from the first node; based on receiving the first acknowledgement, which indicates that the second node is available and listening for the evaluation data to be sent from the first node, sending, from the first node, the evaluation data to the second node; receiving, by the first node, a second acknowledgement, indicating that the second node has received the evaluation data sent from the first node; calculating a success percentage between the first and second nodes based on whether the first node receives the second acknowledgement or whether the first node fails to receive the second acknowledgement; and using the calculated success percentage to determine a link cost between the first node and the second node and, further, using the determined link cost in making routing decisions within the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of communicating data between nodes in a network, comprising:
-
sending, from a first node to a second node, a polling communication to determine if the second node is available; receiving, by the first node, a first acknowledgement, the first acknowledgement indicating receipt of the polling communication by the second node and further indicating that the second node is available and listening for evaluation data to be sent from the first node; based on receiving the first acknowledgement, which indicates that the second node is available and listening for the evaluation data to be sent from the first node, sending, from the first node, the evaluation data to the second node; receiving, by the first node, a second acknowledgement, indicating that the second node has received the evaluation data sent from the first node; calculating a success percentage between the first and second nodes based on whether the first node fails to receive at least one of the first and second acknowledgements; and using the calculated success percentage and a transaction time to determine a link cost between the first node and the second node, wherein the transaction time is indicative of a time difference between a time at which the polling communication is sent from the first node and a time at which the second acknowledgment is received by the first node, and, further, using the determined link cost to make routing decisions within the network. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification