Terminal selection diversity for powerline communications
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- determining, at a first network device of a powerline communication network, to establish communications with a second network device of the powerline communication network;
periodically determining, at the first network device, performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with the powerline communication network for communicating with the second network device;
determining, at the first network device, a preferred powerline communication channel from the plurality of powerline communication channels based on said periodically determining the performance measurements;
providing an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel from the first network device to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel;
changing a terminal connection at the first network device to the preferred powerline communication channel; and
initiating communications from the first network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Powerline communication networks can be subject to burst interference resulting in loss of throughput and data corruption. A transmitting network device and a receiving network device of a powerline communication network can be configured to select a best performing powerline terminal coupling configuration for powerline communications. The transmitting network device can determine performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels. The transmitting network device can select a best performing powerline communication channel based on the performance measurements, and can provide an indication of the best performing powerline communication channel to the receiving network device. The transmitting and the receiving network devices can each configure their respective terminal connections to switch to the best performing powerline communication channel. Subsequent communications between the transmitting and the receiving network devices can be initiated via the best performing powerline communication channel.
39 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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determining, at a first network device of a powerline communication network, to establish communications with a second network device of the powerline communication network; periodically determining, at the first network device, performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with the powerline communication network for communicating with the second network device; determining, at the first network device, a preferred powerline communication channel from the plurality of powerline communication channels based on said periodically determining the performance measurements; providing an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel from the first network device to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel; changing a terminal connection at the first network device to the preferred powerline communication channel; and initiating communications from the first network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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determining, at a first network device of a powerline communication network, to establish communications with a second network device of the powerline communication network; determining, at the first network device, performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with the powerline communication network for communicating with the second network device; for each of the plurality of powerline communication, determining, at the first network device, whether the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel satisfy predefined performance thresholds; storing, in a candidate channel data structure at the first network device, the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel and an indication of the powerline communication channel in response to determining that the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; and discarding the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel in response to determining that the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel do not satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; determining, at the first network device, a preferred powerline communication channel based, at least in part, on determining whether the performance measurements associated with one or more of the plurality of powerline communication channels satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; providing an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel from the first network device to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel; changing a terminal connection at the first network device to the preferred powerline communication channel; and initiating communications from the first network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel.
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14. A network device comprising:
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a powerline channel selection unit operable to; periodically determine performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with a powerline communication network for communicating with a second network device of the powerline communication network; determine a preferred powerline communication channel from the plurality of powerline communication channels based on the powerline channel selection unit periodically determining the performance measurements; provide an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel; a powerline network coupling device operable to; change a terminal connection at the network device to the preferred powerline communication channel in response to the powerline channel selection unit determining the preferred powerline communication channel from the plurality of powerline communication channels based on the performance measurements; and a transceiver unit operable to; initiate communications from the network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media, having instructions stored therein, which, when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:
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determining, at a first network device of a powerline communication network, to establish communications with a second network device of the powerline communication network; periodically determining performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with the powerline communication network for communicating with the second network device; determining a preferred powerline communication channel from the plurality of powerline communication channels based on said periodically determining the performance measurements; providing an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel; changing a terminal connection at the first network device to the preferred powerline communication channel; and initiating communications from the first network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A network device comprising:
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a powerline channel selection unit operable to; determine performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with a powerline communication network for communicating with a second network device of the powerline communication network; for each of the plurality of powerline communication channels, determine whether the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel satisfy predefined performance thresholds; store, in a candidate channel data structure at the network device, the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel and an indication of the powerline communication channel in response to determining that the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; and discard the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel in response to determining that the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel do not satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; determine a preferred powerline communication channel based, at least in part, on determining whether the performance measurements associated with one or more of the plurality of powerline communication channels satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; provide an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel; a powerline network coupling device operable to; change a terminal connection at the network device to the preferred powerline communication channel in response to the powerline channel selection unit determining the preferred powerline communication channel from the plurality of powerline communication channels based on the performance measurements; and a transceiver unit operable to; initiate communications from the network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel.
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25. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media, having instructions stored therein, which, when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:
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determining, at a first network device of a powerline communication network, to establish communications with a second network device of the powerline communication network; determining performance measurements associated with each of a plurality of powerline communication channels associated with the powerline communication network for communicating with the second network device; for each of the plurality of powerline communication channels, determining, at the first network device, whether the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel satisfy predefined performance thresholds; storing, in a candidate channel data structure at the first network device, the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel and an indication of the powerline communication channel in response to determining that the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; and discarding the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel in response to determining that the performance measurements associated with the powerline communication channel do not satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; determining, at the first network device, a preferred powerline communication channel based, at least in part, on determining whether the performance measurements associated with one or more of the plurality of powerline communication channels satisfy the predefined performance thresholds; providing an indication of the preferred powerline communication channel to the second network device to cause a terminal connection at the second network device to be changed to the preferred powerline communication channel; changing a terminal connection at the first network device to the preferred powerline communication channel; and initiating communications from the first network device to the second network device via the preferred powerline communication channel.
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Specification