Synchronizing timeslots in a wireless communication protocol
First Claim
1. A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices, comprising:
- defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration, wherein each of the plurality of network devices transmits or receives data only within the communication timeslot;
generating a network schedule including at least one superframe having repeating superframe cycles each having a number of communication timeslots sequentially numbered relative to a beginning of each cycle, the number of communication timeslots defining a length of the at least one superframe;
maintaining an absolute slot number indicative of a number of communication timeslots elapsed since a start time of the wireless mesh network, including incrementing the absolute slot number by one with each occurrence of a new timeslot;
synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with respect to a timing of an individual communication timeslot; and
synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with the network schedule based on the absolute slot number.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices includes defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration, wherein each of the plurality of network devices transmits or receives data only within the communication timeslot generating a network schedule including at least one superframe having repeating superframe cycles each having a number of communication timeslots sequentially numbered relative to a beginning of each cycle, the number of communication timeslots defining a length of the at least one superframe, maintaining an absolute slot number indicative of a number of communication timeslots scheduled since a start time of the wireless network, synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with respect to a timing of an individual communication timeslot, and synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with the network schedule based on the absolute slot number.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices, comprising:
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defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration, wherein each of the plurality of network devices transmits or receives data only within the communication timeslot; generating a network schedule including at least one superframe having repeating superframe cycles each having a number of communication timeslots sequentially numbered relative to a beginning of each cycle, the number of communication timeslots defining a length of the at least one superframe; maintaining an absolute slot number indicative of a number of communication timeslots elapsed since a start time of the wireless mesh network, including incrementing the absolute slot number by one with each occurrence of a new timeslot; synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with respect to a timing of an individual communication timeslot; and synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with the network schedule based on the absolute slot number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices, comprising:
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defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration for transmitting or receiving data at at least one of the plurality of network devices; continuously scheduling non-overlapping adjacent communication timeslots during operation of the wireless mesh network; maintaining an absolute slot number counter indicative of a number of communication timeslots of a predetermined duration elapsed since a formation of the wireless mesh network; and synchronizing communications between the plurality of network devices based on the absolute slot number counter. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment, comprising:
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an absolute slot number counter that stores a number of communication timeslots of a predefined duration elapsed since a formation of the wireless mesh network, the number of communication timeslots incremented by one with each occurrence of a new timeslot; a plurality of wireless field devices, each communicating with at least another one of the plurality of field devices according to a device specific schedule and including; a memory unit storing a definition of an update superframe associated with the field device, wherein the update superframe includes a repeating sequence of superframe cycles, each cycle having a number of communication timeslots sequentially numbered relative to a beginning of each cycle; and a processing unit that calculates a relative timeslot within the update superframe based on the absolute slot number counter; and a network manager that maintains each device specific schedule of each of the plurality of wireless field devices. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices, comprising:
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defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration, wherein each of the plurality of network devices transmits or receives data only within the communication timeslot; generating a network schedule including at least one superframe having repeating superframe cycles each having a number of communication timeslots sequentially numbered relative to a beginning of each cycle, the number of communication timeslots defining a length of the at least one superframe; maintaining an absolute slot number indicative of a number of communication timeslots elapsed since a start time of the wireless mesh network, including incrementing the absolute slot number by one with each occurrence of a new timeslot; and synchronizing each of the plurality of network devices with the network schedule based on the absolute slot number.
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22. A method for synchronizing communications in wireless mesh network operating in a process control environment and including a plurality of network devices, comprising:
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defining a communication timeslot of a predetermined duration, wherein each of the plurality of network devices transmits or receives data only within one of a plurality of scheduled communication timeslots; designating a first one of the plurality of network devices as a timeslot synchronization source of a second one of the plurality of network devices; sending a first data packet from the first one of the plurality of network devices to the second one of the plurality of network devices, including; sending a time adjustment value in the first data packet, the time adjustment value based on an absolute slot number indicative of a number of communication timeslots elapsed since a start time of the wireless mesh network; and adjusting, based on the time adjustment value, a timeslot synchronization at the second one of the plurality of network devices. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification