Routing protocols for power line communications (PLC)

• US 8,958,356 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2011
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Ananthakrishnan, Ramachandran, Du, Shu, Lu, Xiaolin
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhou, Yong
• Application Number:
  US13/300,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20120182881A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,184 Days
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5445 Local network
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/54 Systems for transmission via power distribution lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/12 Shortest path evaluation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/34 Source routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/28 for reactive routing

Abstract

Systems and methods for routing protocols for power line communications (PLC) are described. In some embodiments, a method may include transmitting a one-hop broadcast request message to a plurality of PLC devices in a mesh network and receiving a response from each of the devices. The method may also include selecting one of the devices as a bootstrapping agent, sending a join request to a bootstrapping server through the bootstrapping agent, and, in response to successfully joining the network, setting the bootstrapping agent as a next hop toward a bootstrapping server. In another embodiment, a method may include maintaining a routing table for a plurality of PLC devices in a mesh network, receiving a join request from a PLC device, accepting the request, and updating the table to add a record corresponding to the PLC device; the record setting the bootstrapping agent as a penultimate hop toward the PLC device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

performing, by a power line communication (PLC) device,

(a) transmitting a one-hop broadcast request message over a power line to each of a plurality of full-function PLC devices in a mesh network;

(b) receiving a response from one or more of the plurality of full-function PLC devices over the power line;

(c) selecting one of the plurality of full-function PLC devices as a bootstrapping agent based, at least in part, upon the responses;

(d) sending a join request to the bootstrapping agent, the bootstrapping agent configured to relay the join request to a bootstrapping server; and

(e) in response to successfully joining the mesh network, setting the bootstrapping agent as a next hop toward the bootstrapping server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of full-function PLC devices are PLC meters, and wherein the bootstrapping server is a PLC data concentrator.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the responses includes a path cost from its respective PLC meter to the PLC data concentrator, and wherein selecting the full-function PLC device includes selecting the PLC meter with lowest path cost to the PLC data concentrator.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the PLC device is configured to communicate with another PLC device through the PLC data concentrator.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the PLC device includes a routing table with a single entry, the single entry corresponding to a route to the PLC data concentrator.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the PLC data concentrator includes a routing table with multiple entries, the multiple entries corresponding to routes for multiple elements in the mesh network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, by the PLC device,

receiving, through the bootstrapping agent, a link state request message originated by the bootstrapping server; and

transmitting, through the bootstrapping agent, a link state response to the bootstrapping server.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, by the PLC device,

receiving, through another bootstrapping agent, a change next hop message originated by the bootstrapping server, the change next hop message having been originated upon a determination that a link state response message was not received at the bootstrapping server in response to a link state request directed to the PLC device; and

setting the other bootstrapping agent as the next hop toward the bootstrapping server.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, by the PLC device,

repeating (a)-(e) in response to a determination that a keep alive message has not been received from the bootstrapping server at an expiration of a timeout.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the timeout is larger than another timeout after which the bootstrapping server is configured to designate the PLC device as unreachable.

11. A power line communication (PLC) device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to store program instructions executable by the processor to cause the PLC device to;

maintain a routing table for a plurality of PLC meters in a mesh network;

receive a join request from a PLC meter over a power line, the join request relayed by a bootstrapping agent;

accept the join request over the power line; and

update the routing table to add a record corresponding to the PLC meter, the record setting the bootstrapping agent as a penultimate hop toward the PLC meter.

12. The PLC device of claim 11, wherein the PLC device is a PLC data concentrator, and wherein the processor includes a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-chip (SoC) circuit, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a microprocessor, or a microcontroller.

13. The PLC device of claim 11, wherein the join message is relayed by the bootstrapping agent after responses to one-hop broadcast request messages transmitted by the PLC meter to each of a plurality of full-function devices in the mesh network have been received by the PLC meter, and the PLC meter has selected one of the plurality of full-function devices as the bootstrapping agent based, at least in part, on the responses.

14. The PLC device of claim 11, the program instructions executable by the processor to further cause the PLC device to:

transmit a link state request to the PLC meter; and

upon a determination that a link state response corresponding to the link state request has not been received after a timeout has expired, attempt to identify a new route to the PLC meter based on the routing table.

15. The PLC device of claim 14, the program instructions executable by the processor to further cause the PLC device to:

in response to identifying the new route, transmit a change next hop request to the PLC meter through the new route, wherein the timeout is smaller than another timeout after which the PLC meter is configured to attempt to rejoin the mesh network.

16. The PLC device of claim 14, the program instructions executable by the processor to further cause the PLC device to:

in response to a failure to identify the new route, mark the PLC meter as unreachable.

17. A tangible non-transitory electronic storage medium having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor within a power line communication (PLC) device, cause the PLC device to:

select one of a plurality of other PLC devices in a mesh network as a bootstrapping agent based, at least in part, upon responses to one-hop broadcast request messages transmitted over a power line to the plurality of other PLC devices, the bootstrapping agent having a lowest path cost to a PLC data concentrator;

send a join request over the power line to the PLC data concentrator through the bootstrapping agent; and

set the bootstrapping agent as a next hop toward the PLC data concentrator.

18. The tangible non-transitory electronic storage medium of claim 17, wherein the PLC device includes information corresponding to a route to the PLC data concentrator, and does not include information corresponding to other routes.

19. The tangible non-transitory electronic storage medium of claim 17, wherein the program instructions, upon execution, further cause the PLC device to:

receive a change next hop message originated by the PLC data concentrator; and

set another bootstrapping agent as the next hop toward the PLC data concentrator.

20. The tangible non-transitory electronic storage medium of claim 17, wherein the program instructions, upon execution, further cause the PLC device to:

select another one of the plurality of other PLC devices as the bootstrapping agent in response to a determination that a keep alive message has not been received from the PLC data concentrator at the expiration of a timeout, wherein the timeout is larger than another timeout after which the PLC data concentrator is configured to designate the PLC device as unreachable.