Apparatus and method for intelligent frequency-hopping discovery and synchronization
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a transceiver configured to communicate with a first node and a second node in a wireless network, the second node comprising a transmit-only node;
a memory configured to store information identifying a first frequency-hopping pattern of the first node and a second frequency-hopping pattern of the second node; and
a controller configured to synchronize the transceiver with the first node using the first frequency-hopping pattern;
the controller also configured to estimate a transmission time of the second node and to synchronize the transceiver with the second frequency-hopping pattern so the transceiver receives a transmission from the second node at or around the estimated transmission time;
the transceiver also configured to receive the information identifying the first frequency-hopping pattern using a gateway frequency-hopping pattern of a gateway.
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Abstract
A process control system or other system includes multiple nodes that communicate using frequency-hopping patterns. Each node may operate using its own frequency-hopping pattern. Each node may also broadcast information identifying its frequency-hopping pattern to other nodes, such as any neighboring nodes. Each node may further receive information identifying the frequency-hopping patterns of any neighboring nodes. The nodes may then operate in a non-synchronized manner and use the frequency-hopping patterns of neighboring nodes to communicate. For example, each node may use the identified frequency-hopping pattern of a neighboring node to synchronize with and communicate data to the neighboring node. In this way, the nodes need not maintain synchronization at all times during operation. Also, different nodes may use different frequency channels at the same time, helping to increase the bandwidth available for wireless communications.
30 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a transceiver configured to communicate with a first node and a second node in a wireless network, the second node comprising a transmit-only node; a memory configured to store information identifying a first frequency-hopping pattern of the first node and a second frequency-hopping pattern of the second node; and a controller configured to synchronize the transceiver with the first node using the first frequency-hopping pattern; the controller also configured to estimate a transmission time of the second node and to synchronize the transceiver with the second frequency-hopping pattern so the transceiver receives a transmission from the second node at or around the estimated transmission time; the transceiver also configured to receive the information identifying the first frequency-hopping pattern using a gateway frequency-hopping pattern of a gateway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 19)
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8. A system comprising:
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a gateway configured to facilitate communication between a wired network and a wireless network; a plurality of first nodes in the wireless network, each first node configured to broadcast information identifying a frequency-hopping pattern of that first node using a frequency-hopping pattern of the gateway and to receive information identifying a frequency-hopping pattern of at least one other first node using the frequency-hopping pattern of the gateway, each first node also configured to communicate with the at least one other first node using the frequency-hopping pattern of the at least one other first node; and a second node comprising a transmit-only node in the wireless network, wherein one or more of the first nodes are configured to estimate a transmission time of the second node, synchronize to a frequency-hopping pattern of the second node, and receive a transmission from the second node at or around the estimated transmission time. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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scanning a plurality of frequency channels for messages from a gateway at a first node in a wireless network; synchronizing the first node with a first frequency-hopping pattern of the gateway using the messages; transmitting information identifying a second frequency-hopping pattern of the first node to a second node in the wireless network using the first frequency-hopping pattern; receiving information identifying a third frequency-hopping pattern of the second node at the first node using the first frequency-hopping pattern; operating the first node using the second frequency-hopping pattern; synchronizing the first node with the second node for wireless communication using the third frequency-hopping pattern; estimating a transmission time of a third node, the third node comprising a transmit-only node; synchronizing the first node with a fourth frequency-hopping pattern of the third node; and receiving at the first node a transmission from the third node at or around the estimated transmission time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 20)
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16. A method comprising:
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scanning a plurality of frequency channels for messages from a gateway at a first node in a wireless network; synchronizing the first node with a first frequency-hopping pattern of the gateway using the messages; transmitting information identifying a second frequency-hopping pattern of the first node to a second node in the wireless network using the first frequency-hopping pattern; receiving information identifying a third frequency-hopping pattern of the second node at the first node using the first frequency-hopping pattern; operating the first node using the second frequency-hopping pattern; synchronizing the first node with the second node for wireless communication using the third frequency-hopping pattern; identifying two or more routes from the first node to the gateway; and transmitting information identifying the one or more routes to the second node; wherein identifying the two or more routes comprises selecting at least two routes from a set of routes, the at least two routes selected based on one or more of;
a number of hops from the first node to the gateway, a quality of wireless links from the first node to the gateway, and a number of common intermediate nodes of the at least two routes. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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17. A method comprising:
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receiving, at a wireless node, information identifying a frequency-hopping pattern of a transmit-only node in a wireless network using a gateway frequency-hopping pattern of a gateway in the wireless network; estimating a first transmission time of the transmit-only node; synchronizing the wireless node with the transmit-only node using the frequency-hopping pattern; receiving at the wireless node a first transmission from the transmit-only node at or around the estimated transmission time; and estimating a second transmission time of the transmit-only node based on a clock synchronization message transmitted from the transmit-only node. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification