Traffic load management
First Claim
1. A method of controlling a size of a contention window in a node in a network, comprising:
- under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions;
maintaining a list of sizes of contention windows of parent nodes of the node;
setting a contention window for the node to be not shorter than a contention window of a parent node of the node and longer than contention windows used by upstream 1-hop upstream neighbors of the node, as indicated by the list; and
sending data to the parent node of the node, the sending beginning after a wait indicated by the contention window of the node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A node may assist in the management of upstream network traffic in part by managing a contention window used by the node. The node may maintain a list of size(s) of contention window(s) of parent node(s) of the node. The node may set its own contention window to be longer (i.e., a longer period of time) than that of upstream neighbor nodes. With a longer contention window than that of its parent node(s), the node will refrain from using an RF channel needed by a parent node. Accordingly, upstream nodes are better able to transmit any backlog of data before receiving additional data from downstream nodes. This may better distribute data over the network, and may better manage data flow.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of controlling a size of a contention window in a node in a network, comprising:
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under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions; maintaining a list of sizes of contention windows of parent nodes of the node; setting a contention window for the node to be not shorter than a contention window of a parent node of the node and longer than contention windows used by upstream 1-hop upstream neighbors of the node, as indicated by the list; and sending data to the parent node of the node, the sending beginning after a wait indicated by the contention window of the node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A node in a network, comprising:
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a processor; memory, in communication with the processor; a list, defined in the memory and including indications of parents of the node, a size of a contention window associated with each parent, and a timeout associated with each contention window; a timer to manage the timeouts in the list; a contention window size calculation module, defined in the memory and configured to calculate a size of a contention window of the node, using as input; a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) algorithm; and data from the list; wherein the size of the contention window of the node is determined by comparing the input; and a contention window manager defined in memory and configured to announce, in messages to neighbors, the size of the contention window of the node, as calculated by the contention window size calculation module. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of controlling a size of a contention window in a node in a network, comprising:
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under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions; exchanging RTS and CTS packets with neighbors of the node; including a size of the contention window in the exchange; maintaining a list of sizes of contention windows of parent nodes of the node, wherein the sizes of contention windows are obtained in part from the exchange; setting a contention window for the node to be not shorter than a contention window of a parent node of the node, as indicated by the list; and sending data to the parent node of the node, the sending beginning after a wait indicated by the contention window of the node. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification