Underwater multi-hop communications network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a master node; and
an ad hoc network comprising at least one remote node, each remote node comprising;
a power source;
a transmitter comprising a light source;
a receiver;
a sensor; and
a processor, wherein the processor is configured to;
identify a communications path to the master node through at least one other remote node of the ad hoc network;
obtain data from the sensor;
transmit, through the transmitter, an indication of a clock value to at least one child node of the at least one remote node;
receive, through the receiver, other sensor data from the at least one child node of the ad hoc network based on the transmitted clock value;
relay, through the transmitter, the sensor data and the other sensor data to the master node according to a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme along the communications path without global clock synchronization and only after receiving other sensor data from each of the at least one child node assigned to the at least one remote node; and
dynamically reconfigure the communications path when the ad hoc network changes by rebuilding a spanning tree of the ad hoc network after each relay of the sensor data and the other sensor data.
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Abstract
A multi-hop ad hoc communications network may allow optical communications between underwater nodes. Each node may be fitted with environmental sensors. Each node may collect data from the sensors and transmit the data to other nodes in the network according to a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme. The data may propagate through a series of child and parent nodes to reach a master node. The master node may have a wired connection for power and data transfer.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a master node; and
an ad hoc network comprising at least one remote node, each remote node comprising;
a power source;
a transmitter comprising a light source;
a receiver;
a sensor; and
a processor, wherein the processor is configured to;
identify a communications path to the master node through at least one other remote node of the ad hoc network;
obtain data from the sensor;
transmit, through the transmitter, an indication of a clock value to at least one child node of the at least one remote node;
receive, through the receiver, other sensor data from the at least one child node of the ad hoc network based on the transmitted clock value;
relay, through the transmitter, the sensor data and the other sensor data to the master node according to a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme along the communications path without global clock synchronization and only after receiving other sensor data from each of the at least one child node assigned to the at least one remote node; and
dynamically reconfigure the communications path when the ad hoc network changes by rebuilding a spanning tree of the ad hoc network after each relay of the sensor data and the other sensor data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- a master node; and
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11. A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a processor of a remote node of an ad hoc network, data from a sensor;
identifying, by a processor, a communications path to a master node through at least one other remote node of the ad hoc network;
transmitting, through a transmitter, an indication of a clock value to at least one child node of the at least one other remote nodes in the ad hoc network;
receiving, by the processor, other sensor data from the at least one child node of the ad hoc network based on the transmitted clock value;
transmitting, through a transmitter of the remote node by the processor, the sensor data and the other sensor data through the communications path according to a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme without global clock synchronization and only after receiving other sensor data from each of the at least one child nodes assigned to the remote node; and
dynamically reconfiguring, by the processor, the communications path when the ad hoc network changes by rebuilding a spanning tree of the ad hoc network after each relay of the sensor data and the other sensor data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- receiving, by a processor of a remote node of an ad hoc network, data from a sensor;
Specification