Method and system of providing IP-based packet communications in a utility network
First Claim
1. A wireless communication system comprising:
- a plurality of utility nodes configured to receive commodity meter information, the utility nodes being connected in a utility network; and
a plurality of access point devices connected to the utility network, the access point devices providing communication between the plurality of utility nodes and at least one wide area network;
wherein at least one of the plurality of utility nodes is configured to;
register with a plurality of access points by;
sending registration messages to more than one of said plurality of access point devices, andfor each of the plurality of access point devices that acknowledges a registration message sent by the at least one node, obtaining a unique network address of the at least one node corresponding, to that access point device in response to receipt of the acknowledgement, to thereby obtain a plurality of unique network addresses that are concurrently available for communications via the respective access point devices with which the at least one node is registered;
generate a message intended for a network destination accessible though the at least one wide area network connected with one of the plurality of access point devices with which the at least one node is registered; and
send the generated message to the intended network destination via said one of the plurality of access point devices by utilizing the unique network address obtained for said one of the plurality of access point devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One example embodiment provides a method and system where a node in a utility network registers with one or more access point devices associated with one or more local area utility networks. The utility node generates a unique network address using a network address prefix of a network address associated with the access point device. The utility node registers with a DNS server. Messages sent to the utility node are routed through the access point corresponding to the received prefix used to generate the unique network address for the utility node. The network address for the utility node and access point may be IPv6 addresses and the network address prefix may be an IPv6 prefix, or may be an IPv4 address.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A wireless communication system comprising:
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a plurality of utility nodes configured to receive commodity meter information, the utility nodes being connected in a utility network; and a plurality of access point devices connected to the utility network, the access point devices providing communication between the plurality of utility nodes and at least one wide area network; wherein at least one of the plurality of utility nodes is configured to; register with a plurality of access points by; sending registration messages to more than one of said plurality of access point devices, and for each of the plurality of access point devices that acknowledges a registration message sent by the at least one node, obtaining a unique network address of the at least one node corresponding, to that access point device in response to receipt of the acknowledgement, to thereby obtain a plurality of unique network addresses that are concurrently available for communications via the respective access point devices with which the at least one node is registered; generate a message intended for a network destination accessible though the at least one wide area network connected with one of the plurality of access point devices with which the at least one node is registered; and send the generated message to the intended network destination via said one of the plurality of access point devices by utilizing the unique network address obtained for said one of the plurality of access point devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of communicating in a network, comprising:
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sending registration messages from a node to more than one of a plurality of access point devices associated with at least one wireless utility network; for each of the plurality of access point devices that acknowledges a registration message sent by the node, obtaining a unique network address of the node corresponding to that access point device in response to receipt of the acknowledgement, to thereby obtain a plurality of unique network addresses that are concurrently available for communications via the respective access point devices with which the node is registered; registering the plurality of unique network addresses with a dynamic domain name server; generating in the node a message intended for a network destination accessible though at least one wide area network connected with one of the plurality of access point devices with which the node is registered; and sending the generated message to the intended network destination via the one of the plurality of access point devices by utilizing the unique network address obtained for the one of the plurality of access point devices. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of communicating in a network, comprising:
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receiving a network address for a utility node; and providing at least two unique network addresses corresponding to the utility node, wherein; the at least two unique network addresses are selected from a plurality of concurrently available unique network addresses obtained by the utility node from each of a plurality of access point devices which have acknowledged a registration message sent by the utility node and with which the utility node has registered, the at least two unique network addresses each respectively correspond to one of the plurality of access point devices the utility node is registered with, and are concurrently available for communications via the corresponding one of the plurality of access point devices with which the utility node has registered, and messages sent using the at least two unique network addresses to the utility node are routed through the corresponding one of the plurality of access point devices with which the utility node has registered. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification