Commissioning of wireless devices in personal area networks
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A wireless network device comprising:
- (a) a personal area network (PAN) interface configured for communicating with one or more devices over a wireless medium;
(b) a memory encoding one or more processor executable instructions; and
(c) a processor configured to load the one or more processor-executable instructions when encoded from the memory, wherein the one or more processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause acts to be performed comprising;
(i) scanning one or more wireless communication channels for discoverable networks for a predetermined amount of time,(ii) receiving network identity information for each of one or more discovered wireless PANs comprising a PAN ID over the one or more wireless communication channels,(iii) measuring received signal strength of each of one or more discovered wireless PANs,(iv) dynamically building a ranked table of one or more discovered wireless PANs by entering the first discovered wireless PAN in the table and for each subsequently discovered wireless PAN;
(1) comparing both a channel ID and the PAN ID of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to entries in the table,(2) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is stronger than the received signal strength of the existing entry, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength and removing the existing entry from the table,(3) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is weaker than the received signal strength of the existing entry, not adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table and keeping the existing entry in the table, and(4) when the channel ID and PAN ID do not match an existing entry in the table, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength, and(v) attempting to join each wireless PAN in the table in order from strongest received signal strength to weakest received signal strength until a wireless PAN is successfully joined.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device joining a wireless network performs a scan and acquire procedure to discover the optimal node in the desired network. The joining device scans all desired channels for a predetermined amount of time. During the scan, the joining device builds a table of discovered networks ranked and truncated according to proximity. Additionally, the joining device curates the list to ensure that only the optimal node from each network is listed. The joining device then attempts to join networks according to the table of discovered networks.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A wireless network device comprising:
-
(a) a personal area network (PAN) interface configured for communicating with one or more devices over a wireless medium; (b) a memory encoding one or more processor executable instructions; and (c) a processor configured to load the one or more processor-executable instructions when encoded from the memory, wherein the one or more processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause acts to be performed comprising; (i) scanning one or more wireless communication channels for discoverable networks for a predetermined amount of time, (ii) receiving network identity information for each of one or more discovered wireless PANs comprising a PAN ID over the one or more wireless communication channels, (iii) measuring received signal strength of each of one or more discovered wireless PANs, (iv) dynamically building a ranked table of one or more discovered wireless PANs by entering the first discovered wireless PAN in the table and for each subsequently discovered wireless PAN; (1) comparing both a channel ID and the PAN ID of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to entries in the table, (2) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is stronger than the received signal strength of the existing entry, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength and removing the existing entry from the table, (3) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is weaker than the received signal strength of the existing entry, not adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table and keeping the existing entry in the table, and (4) when the channel ID and PAN ID do not match an existing entry in the table, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength, and (v) attempting to join each wireless PAN in the table in order from strongest received signal strength to weakest received signal strength until a wireless PAN is successfully joined. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A wireless network system comprising:
-
(a) a network coordinating device comprising; (i) a first personal area network (PAN) interface configured for transmitting network identity information comprising a PAN ID over a wireless communication channel via a communication protocol further comprising a base protocol and a supplemental protocol, receiving one or more control commands from a network device, and (ii) a power over Ethernet (PoE) interface configured for receiving an electric power signal and transmitting control commands to a control system; (b) a joining network device comprising a personal area network (PAN) interface configured for communicating with one or more devices over a wireless medium, a memory encoding one or more processor executable instructions, and a processor configured to load the one or more processor-executable instructions when encoded from the memory, wherein the one or more processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause acts to be performed comprising (i) scanning one or more wireless communication channels for discoverable networks for a predetermined amount of time, (ii) receiving network identity information for each of one or more discovered wireless PANs comprising a PAN ID over the one or more wireless communication channels, (iii) measuring received signal strength of each of one or more discovered wireless PANs, (iv) dynamically building a ranked table of one or more discovered wireless PANs by entering the first discovered wireless PAN in the table and for each subsequently discovered wireless PAN; (1) comparing both a channel ID and the PAN ID of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to entries in the table, (2) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is stronger than the received signal strength of the existing entry, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength and removing the existing entry from the table, (3) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is weaker than the received signal strength of the existing entry, not adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table and keeping the existing entry in the table, and (4) when the channel ID and PAN ID do not match an existing entry in the table, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength, and (v) attempting to both join according to the base protocol and be acquired according to the supplemental protocol by each wireless PAN in the table in order from strongest received signal strength to weakest received signal strength until both a wireless PAN is successfully joined and the joining device is successfully acquired by the wireless PAN, and (vi) transmitting the ranked table to a diagnostic console; (vii) transmitting one or more control commands to the network coordinating device upon successfully joining and being acquired by a wireless PAN; and (c) the diagnostic console comprising a display and configured for receiving the table of entries from the joining network device and displaying the table of entries on the display.
-
-
7. A method for a joining device to be commissioned in a wireless personal area network (PAN), said method comprising:
-
(a) scanning one or more wireless communication channels for discoverable networks for a predetermined amount of time; (b) receiving network identity information for each of one or more discovered wireless PANs comprising a PAN ID over the one or more wireless communication channels; (c) measuring received signal strength of each of one or more discovered wireless PANs; (d) dynamically building a ranked table of one or more discovered wireless PANs by entering the first discovered wireless PAN in the table and for each subsequently discovered wireless PAN; (i) comparing both a channel ID and the PAN ID of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to entries in the table, (ii) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is stronger than the received signal strength of the existing entry, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength and removing the existing entry from the table, (iii) when the channel ID and PAN ID matches an existing entry in the table and the received signal strength of the subsequently discovered wireless PAN is weaker than the received signal strength of the existing entry, not adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table and keeping the existing entry in the table, and (iv) when the channel ID and PAN ID do not match an existing entry in the table, adding the subsequently discovered wireless PAN to the table ranked according to received signal strength; and (e) attempting to join each wireless PAN in the table in order from strongest received signal strength to weakest received signal strength until a wireless PAN is successfully joined. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification