Set of optimizations applicable to a wireless networks operating in TV white space bands

• US 9,686,735 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2013
• Issued: 06/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Itron Networked Solutions, Inc. (Itron, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Silver Spring Networks, Inc. (Itron, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramasastry, Jay, Seibert, Cristina, Rolfe, Benjamin A., Shah, Kunal Pankaj
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Jenee
• Application Number:
  US14/061,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20140269506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,336 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/00 Network data management

Abstract

A server acts as a proxy mechanism for node registration with a database. The node initially registers to participate in a wireless mesh network by transmitting a registration request to the server. The server forwards the request to the database, which validates the request. The server records that the registration request was, in fact, validated by the database. The node is then permitted to participate in the network. If the node becomes decoupled from the network, the node may then transmit a re-registration request to the server. Since the server recorded that the previous registration was validated, the server may then simply validate the re-registration request, without interacting with the database.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to register a node to participate in a network, by performing the steps of:

receiving from the node a first request to participate in the network, wherein the first request includes a first subset of information that identifies the node and a second subset of information associated with the node;

permitting the node to participate in the network;

notifying the node that participation in the network has been permitted;

receiving from the node a second request to participate in the network after the node has become decoupled from the network, wherein the second request includes only the first subset of information;

in response to determining that the node had previously been permitted to participate in the network based on mapping the first subset of information to an identifier previously assigned to the node, assigning the identifier to the node and determining a channel map for the node; and

notifying the node that participation in the network has again been permitted.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first request comprises a node address and at least one of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) node identifier, a node serial number, a name of a business with which the node is associated, and human contact information for a person responsible for the node.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the first request further includes a current location of the node and an altitude measure of an antenna with which the node communicates.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first subset of information comprises a node address and a current location where the node resides.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of permitting the node to participate in the network comprises causing a database to validate the first request, and further comprising:

receiving a validation of the first request from the database; and

storing the validation of the first request.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the step of determining that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network comprises:

extracting a node address from the second request; and

determining, based on the node address, that the validation of the first request has been previously stored, indicating that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the step of determining that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network comprises:

extracting a node address from the second request;

mapping the node address to an internet protocol (IP) address; and

determining that the IP address was previously assigned to the node.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining that a status parameter included in the first request has assumed an updated value in the second request; and

upon determining that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network, transmitting the updated value of the status parameter to a database configured to permit the node to participate in the network.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the status parameter includes at least one of an updated location where the node resides and an updated altitude measure of an antenna with which the node communicates.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the node transmits the first request when coupled to a first access point or residing in a first location, and the node transmits the second request when coupled to a second access point or residing in a second location.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising updating status data associated with the node, wherein the channel map for the node is determined based on the updated status data.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the channel map to the node.

13. A computer-implemented method for registering a node to participate in a network, the method comprising:

receiving from the node a first request to participate in the network, wherein the first request includes a first subset of information that identifies the node and a second subset of information associated with the node;

permitting the node to participate in the network;

notifying the node that participation in the network has been permitted;

receiving from the node a second request to participate in the network after the node has become decoupled from the network, wherein the second request includes only the first subset of information;

in response to determining that the node had previously been permitted to participate in the network based on mapping the first subset of information to an identifier previously assigned to the node, assigning the identifier to the node and determining a channel map for the node; and

notifying the node that participation in the network has again been permitted.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein permitting the node to participate in the network comprises causing a database to validate the first request, and further comprising:

receiving a validation of the first request from the database; and

storing the validation of the first request.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein determining that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network comprises:

extracting a node address from the second request; and

determining, based on the node address, that the validation of the first request has been previously stored, indicating that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein determining that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network comprises:

extracting a node address from the second request;

mapping the node address to an internet protocol (IP) address; and

determining that the IP address was previously assigned to the node.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining that a status parameter included in the first request has assumed an updated value in the second request; and

upon determining that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network, transmitting the updated value of the status parameter to a database configured to permit the node to participate in the network,

wherein the status parameter includes at least one of an updated location where the node resides and an updated altitude measure of an antenna with which the node communicates.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the node transmits the first request when coupled to a first access point or residing in a first location, and the node transmits the second request when coupled to a second access point or residing in a second location.

19. A computing device configured to register a node to participate in a network, comprising:

a memory that includes a software application; and

a processor that, when executing the software application, is configured to;

receive from the node a first request to participate in the network, wherein the first request includes a first subset of information that identifies the node and a second subset of information associated with the node;

permit the node to participate in the network;

notify the node that participation in the network has been permitted;

receive from the node a second request to participate in the network after the node has become decoupled from the network, wherein the second request includes only the first subset of information;

in response to determining that the node had previously been permitted to participate in the network based on mapping the first subset of information to an identifier previously assigned to the node, assigning the identifier to the node and determining a channel map for the node; and

notify the node that participation in the network has again been permitted.

20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to permit the node to participate in the network by causing the database to validate the first request, and the processor is further configured to:

receive a validation of the first request from the database; and

store the validation of the first request.

21. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network by:

extracting a node address from the second request; and

determining, based on the node address, that the validation of the first request has been previously stored, indicating that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network.

22. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the node has already been permitted to participate in the network by:

extracting a node address from the second request;

mapping the node address to an internet protocol (IP) address; and

determining that the IP address was previously assigned to the node.