Determining associations in a mesh network

• US 8,780,760 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2013
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ruckus IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kish, William S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Chirag
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kang, Suk Jin
• Application Number:
  US13/736,017
• Publication Number:
  US 20130194969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 554 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/125 based on throughput or bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery

Abstract

Determining associations in wireless mesh networks are provided. In a mesh network that includes a wired border node and multiple wireless nodes, each wireless node advertises a backhaul throughput approximating the throughput between that wireless node and the wired border node. Using the advertised backhaul throughput information and the stored local throughput information, a receiving node determines a node association from among various candidate nodes.

Claims

1. A method for determining associations in a mesh network, the method comprising:

storing in memory of a first node information concerning uplink throughputs in the mesh network, each uplink throughput based on a local throughput between the first node and a candidate node and a backhaul throughput between the candidate node and a wired border node, wherein the first node is connected to a second node;

receiving at the first node updated backhaul throughputs from a plurality of candidate nodes, each updated backhaul throughput associated with one of the plurality of candidate nodes in the network;

executing instructions stored in memory of the first node, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor of the first node determines that an updated uplink throughput of a third node exceeds an updated uplink throughput of the second node by a threshold amount;

disconnecting the first node from the second node; and

connecting the first node to the third node based on the updated uplink throughput of the third node exceeding the updated uplink throughput of the second node by the threshold amount.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a plurality of advertised backhaul throughputs at the first node, each backhaul throughput advertised by one of the plurality of candidate nodes.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a transmission from the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes, and executing instructions stored in memory to estimate local throughput to each of one or more of the candidate nodes based on results of the transmission.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising advertising a backhaul throughput of the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the backhaul throughput of the first node is the uplink throughput of the third node.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a probe request from the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes, and receiving one or more probe responses, each probe response from one of the candidate nodes.

7. An apparatus for determining associations in a mesh network, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing information concerning uplink throughputs in the mesh network, each uplink throughput based on a local throughput between a first node and a candidate node and a backhaul throughput between the candidate node and a wired border node, wherein the first node is connected to a second node;

an antenna for receiving at the first node updated backhaul throughputs from a plurality of candidate nodes, each updated backhaul throughput associated with one of the plurality of candidate nodes in the network;

a processor for executing instructions stored in memory of the first node, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor of the first node determines that an updated uplink throughput of a third node exceeds an updated uplink throughput of the second node by a threshold amount;

wherein the antenna disconnects the first node from the second node and connects the first node to the third node based on the updated uplink throughput of the third node exceeding the updated uplink throughput of the second node by the threshold amount.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the antenna receives a plurality of advertised backhaul throughputs at the first node, each backhaul throughput advertised by one of the plurality of candidate nodes.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the antenna sends a transmission from the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes, and the processor executes further instructions to estimate local throughput to each of one or more of the candidate nodes based on results of the transmission.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the antenna advertises a backhaul throughput of the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the backhaul throughput of the first node is the uplink throughput of the third node.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the antenna sends a probe request from the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes and receives one or more probe responses, each probe response from one of the candidate nodes.

13. A system for determining associations in a mesh network, the system comprising:

a wired border node;

a plurality of candidate nodes; and

a first node comprising;

a memory for storing information concerning uplink throughputs in the mesh network, each uplink throughput based on a local throughput between the first node and one of the candidate nodes and a backhaul throughput between the candidate node and a wired border node, wherein the first node is connected to a second node;

an antenna for receiving at the first node updated backhaul throughputs from the plurality of candidate nodes, each updated backhaul throughput associated with one of the plurality of candidate nodes in the network;

a processor for executing instructions stored in memory of the first node, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor of the first node determines that an updated uplink throughput of a third node exceeds an updated uplink throughput of the second node by a threshold amount;

wherein the antenna disconnects the first node from the second node and connects the first node to the third node based on the updated uplink throughput of the third node exceeding the updated uplink throughput of the second node by the threshold amount.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of candidate nodes advertises a backhaul throughput to other nodes in the mesh network.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first node sends a transmission to the plurality of candidate nodes and estimates local throughput to each of one or more of the candidate nodes based on results of the transmission.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the first node advertises a backhaul throughput of the first node to the plurality of candidate nodes.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the backhaul throughput of the first node is the uplink throughput of the third node.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the first node sends a probe request to the plurality of candidate nodes and receives one or more probe responses, each probe response from one of the candidate nodes.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for determining associations in a mesh network, the method comprising:

storing information concerning uplink throughputs in the mesh network, each uplink throughput based on a local throughput between a first node and a candidate node and a backhaul throughput between the candidate node and a wired border node, wherein the first node is connected to a second node;

receiving at the first node updated backhaul throughputs from a plurality of candidate nodes, each updated backhaul throughput associated with one of the plurality of candidate nodes in the network;

determining that an updated uplink throughput of a third node exceeds an updated uplink throughput of the second node by a threshold amount;

disconnecting the first node from the second node; and

connecting the first node to the third node based on the updated uplink throughput of the third node exceeding the updated uplink throughput of the second node by the threshold amount.