Method for communicating in a network comprising a batteryless zigbee device, network and device therefor

• US 8,937,935 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2010
• Issued: 01/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Tolhuizen, Ludovicus Marinus Gerardus Maria, Erdmann, Bozema, Schlumbohm, Stephan, Yuan, Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Qureshi, Afsar M
• Application Number:
  US13/505,581
• Publication Number:
  US 20120224571A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,540 Days
• Field of Search: 370328-349, 370/395.4
• US Class Current: 370/349
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/04 based on wireless node resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/182 Network node acting on behalf of an other network entity, e.g. proxy
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A system for wireless communication in a network includes: a resource-restricted device transmitting a data frame to be forwarded to a destination device in the network, wherein the data frame includes a source identifier of the resource-restricted device, wherein the source identifier is not a valid network address for the network; a proxy device receiving the data frame from the resource-restricted device, deriving a network address for the resource-restricted device as a function of the source identifier of the resource-restricted device, and constructing, from the data frame, a packet to be forwarded to at least the destination device. Constructing the packet involves: including, in the packet, data from the data frame, and including, in the packet, the derived network address for the resource-restricted device as a source address for the packet. The proxy device associates a delay to the packet, and schedules transmission of the packet after the delay.

Claims

1. A system for wireless communication in a network, the system comprising:

a resource-restricted device configured to transmit a data frame to be forwarded to a destination device in the network, wherein the data frame includes a source identifier of the resource-restricted device, wherein the source identifier is not a valid network address for the network;

a proxy device configured to receive the data frame from the resource-restricted device;

the proxy device configured to derive a network address for the resource-restricted device as a function of the source identifier of the resource-restricted device;

the proxy device configured to construct, from the data frame, a packet to be forwarded to at least the destination device, wherein the packet, comprises data from the data frame, and the derived network address for the resource-restricted device as a source address for the packet; and

the proxy device configured to associate a delay to the packet, and schedule transmission of the packet after the delay.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines a sequence number from a reception time of the data frame and the sequence number is included in the packet.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines a sequence number from a reception time of the data frame and a frame transmission repetition count included in the data frame and the sequence number is included in the packet.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines a sequence number from a random number included in the data frame and include the sequence number in the packet.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines the delay as a function of a reception quality of the data frame.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines the delay as a function of a reception quality of the data frame, combined with a random jitter amount.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines the delay as a function of a ZigBee Link Quality Indicator.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device determines the delay as a function of a ZigBee Link Quality Indicator, combined with a random jitter amount.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising when a second device in the network already has a network address which matches the derived network address, the proxy device is configured to maintain the derived network address for the packet, and the second device is configured to select a new network address for itself.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising when the proxy device is informed that the packet has been forwarded by another proxy device, the proxy device is configured to cancel the scheduled transmission of the packet.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising when the proxy device receives an acknowledgment from the destination device, the proxy device is configured to cancel scheduled transmission of the packet.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising when the proxy device receives an acknowledgment from the destination device, the proxy device is configured to forward the acknowledgement to another proxy device involved in a process of forwarding the data frame on behalf of the resource-restricted device.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising when the proxy does not receive any acknowledgement from the destination device or via other proxy devices after a predetermined duration, the proxy device is configured to perform the scheduled transmission of the packet.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy device comprises a first proxy device among a plurality of proxy devices, the system further comprising:

a second proxy device among the plurality of proxy devices receiving the data frame from the resource-restricted device;

the second proxy device deriving the network address for the resource-restricted device as the function of the resource-restricted device source identifier;

the second proxy device constructing, from the data frame, a packet to be forwarded to at least the destination device, wherein constructing the packet comprises;

including, in the packet, data from the data frame, and

including, in the packet, the derived network address for the resource-restricted device as a source address for the packet; and

the second proxy device associating a second delay to the packet which is different from the delay associated to the packet by the first proxy device, and scheduling transmission of the packet after the second delay.

15. A proxy device, comprising:

reception means for receiving a data frame from a resource-restricted device in a wireless network, wherein the data frame includes data and a source identifier of the resource-restricted device, wherein the source identifier is not a valid network address for the network;

first determination means for deriving a network address for the resource-restricted device as a function of the source identifier of the resource-restricted device, and including the derived network address in a packet which further includes the data of the data frame;

second determination means for determining, from the reception quality of the frame, a delay for transmitting the packet; and

transmission means for transmitting the packet towards a destination device in the network after the delay.

16. The proxy device of claim 15, further comprising means for canceling a scheduled transmission of a packet when the proxy device is informed that the packet has been transmitted by another proxy device or acknowledged by the destination device.

17. The proxy device of claim 15, wherein the proxy device is configured to determine the delay as a function of a reception quality of the data frame at the proxy device.

18. The proxy device of claim 15, wherein the proxy device is configured to determine the delay as a function of a ZigBee Link Quality Indicator.

19. The proxy device of claim 15, wherein the proxy device is configured to determine the delay as a function of a ZigBee Link Quality Indicator, combined with a random jitter amount.

20. The proxy device of claim 15, wherein the proxy device is configured such that when a second device in the network already has a network address which matches the derived network address, the proxy device maintains the derived network address for the packet.