Power efficient mesh network
First Claim
1. A method of transferring information between electronic devices, comprising:
- receiving, at a first network device, device information and power information from a second network device, wherein the received device information and power information is transferred over a first communication link on a first network, wherein the first communication link is formed between a first transceiver of the first network device and a first transceiver of the second network device;
comparing the received power information with power information of the first network device, wherein the power information of the first network device includes information about a first power source used to power the first network device and the received power information includes information about a second power source used to power the second network device; and
transferring at least a portion of the received device information from the first network device over a second communication link on a second network when it is determined based on the comparison that the first network device is better suited to communicate on the second network than the second network device, whereinthe second communication link is formed between a second transceiver of the first network device and a device transceiver of an external electronic device,the first power source is an on-board power source of the first network device and the power information of the first network device comprises a first state-of-charge of the first power source;
the second power source is an on-board power source of the second network device and the power information of the second network device comprises a second state-of-charge of the second power source; and
the first network device is determined to be better suited to communicate on the second network when the first state-of-charge is greater than the second state-of-charge; and
upon determining the first state-of-charge is less than the second state-of-charge, transferring additional device information from the second network device over a third communication link formed between a second transceiver of the second network device and the device transceiver of the external electronic device,wherein transferring the additional device information over the third communication link is performed after terminating the second communication link.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of communication between a plurality of network devices and an external electronic device is provided. The method includes receiving, at a first network device, device information and power information from a second network device, where the received device information and power information is transferred over a first communication link on a first network, where the first communication link is formed between a first transceiver of the first network device and a first transceiver of the second network device. The method further includes comparing the received power information with power information of the first network device. The method further includes transferring a portion of the received device information from the first network device over a second communication link on a second network when it is determined based on the comparison that the first network device is better suited than the second network device to communicate on the second network.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of transferring information between electronic devices, comprising:
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receiving, at a first network device, device information and power information from a second network device, wherein the received device information and power information is transferred over a first communication link on a first network, wherein the first communication link is formed between a first transceiver of the first network device and a first transceiver of the second network device; comparing the received power information with power information of the first network device, wherein the power information of the first network device includes information about a first power source used to power the first network device and the received power information includes information about a second power source used to power the second network device; and transferring at least a portion of the received device information from the first network device over a second communication link on a second network when it is determined based on the comparison that the first network device is better suited to communicate on the second network than the second network device, wherein the second communication link is formed between a second transceiver of the first network device and a device transceiver of an external electronic device, the first power source is an on-board power source of the first network device and the power information of the first network device comprises a first state-of-charge of the first power source; the second power source is an on-board power source of the second network device and the power information of the second network device comprises a second state-of-charge of the second power source; and the first network device is determined to be better suited to communicate on the second network when the first state-of-charge is greater than the second state-of-charge; and upon determining the first state-of-charge is less than the second state-of-charge, transferring additional device information from the second network device over a third communication link formed between a second transceiver of the second network device and the device transceiver of the external electronic device, wherein transferring the additional device information over the third communication link is performed after terminating the second communication link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for communicating between a plurality of network devices on a low-power wireless network and an external electronic device on a high-power wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a first network device of a plurality of network devices, information from one of the other plurality of network devices using a first communication link formed using the low-power wireless network; transferring at least a portion of the received information from the first network device to the high-power wireless network using a second communication link, wherein the first and second communication links are maintained simultaneously by the first network device; receiving, by the first network device, one or more power-level indicators from one or more of the plurality of network devices; and upon determining a power-level value is below a minimum value stored in memory of the first network device, disconnecting the first network device from the high-power wireless network, wherein the power-level value is based on one or more of the power-level indicators from the one or more of the plurality of network devices and further based on a power-level indicator of the first network device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method for communicating between a plurality of network devices on a low-power wireless network and an external electronic device on a high-power wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a first network device of a plurality of network devices, information from one of the other plurality of network devices using a first communication link formed using the low-power wireless network; transferring at least a portion of the received information from the first network device to the high-power wireless network using a second communication link, wherein the first and second communication links are maintained simultaneously by the first network device; upon determining a second network device of the plurality of network devices is better suited to communicate with the high-power wireless network than the first network device, forming a third communication link between the second network device and the high-power wireless network and terminating the second communication link; and transferring additional device information from the second network device over a third communication link formed between a second transceiver of the second network device and a device transceiver of the external electronic device, wherein the first network device comprises a first power source having a first state-of-charge, the second network device comprises a second power source having a second state-of-charge, and the upon determining the second network device is better suited to communicate with the high-power wireless network than the first network device comprises determining the second state-of-charge is greater than the first-state-of-charge. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A method for communicating between a plurality of network devices on a low-power wireless network and an external electronic device on a high-power wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving, by a first network device of a plurality of network devices, a first set of information from one of the other plurality of network devices using a first communication link formed using the low-power wireless network; transferring at least a portion of the first set of received information from the first network device to the high-power wireless network using a second communication link, wherein the first and second communication links are maintained simultaneously by the first network device, and the second communication link is a low latency type communication link; maintaining the second communication link continuously for a delay period; receiving, by the first network device of a plurality of network devices, a second set of information from one of the other plurality of network devices using the first communication link; transferring at least a portion of the second set of received information from the first network device to the high-power wireless network using the second communication link; and upon determining a second network device of the plurality of network devices is better suited to communicate with the high-power wireless network than the first network device, forming a third communication link between the second network device and the high-power wireless network and terminating the second communication link, wherein determining the second network device is better suited to communicate with the high-power wireless network than the first network device comprises determining that an amount of time equal to a use time window has expired for the first network device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification