Determining role assignment in a hybrid mesh network
First Claim
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1. A method for determining role assignment in a hybrid mesh network, the method comprising:
- sending, by a node of the hybrid mesh network, a message to a gateway of the hybrid mesh network via an Ethernet connection, the message requesting a response from the gateway, wherein the node is connected to the gateway by a wireless link in addition to the Ethernet connection;
determining, by the node, a path by which the node communicates information to the gateway based on the response received from the gateway to the message and further based on a detectable presence of a wired beacon on the Ethernet connection,wherein the determining the path comprises determining to communicate with the gateway through an intermediate node in response to detecting a wired beacon by the node, andwherein the determining the path further comprises determining to communicate directly with the gateway without passing through any intermediate node in response to not detecting the wired beacon by the node; and
in response to the determining to communicate directly with the gateway, providing, by the node, wireless access to a node pair of the hybrid mesh network, the node pair being connected by a respective Ethernet connection and a respective wireless link;
wherein the respective wireless link between the node pair is suspended based on a comparison of throughputs to the node, andwherein the comparison of throughputs to the node indicates that a first node in the node pair has a higher throughput, and wherein the node is configured to provide wireless access to the first node in the node pair in response to the comparison.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention solve problems experienced by mesh networks concerning loop formation where two nodes are connected by both a wired and wireless link. The present invention prevents or ‘breaks’ a loop that that would otherwise result in continually repeating and delayed network data transmission.
322 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for determining role assignment in a hybrid mesh network, the method comprising:
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sending, by a node of the hybrid mesh network, a message to a gateway of the hybrid mesh network via an Ethernet connection, the message requesting a response from the gateway, wherein the node is connected to the gateway by a wireless link in addition to the Ethernet connection; determining, by the node, a path by which the node communicates information to the gateway based on the response received from the gateway to the message and further based on a detectable presence of a wired beacon on the Ethernet connection, wherein the determining the path comprises determining to communicate with the gateway through an intermediate node in response to detecting a wired beacon by the node, and wherein the determining the path further comprises determining to communicate directly with the gateway without passing through any intermediate node in response to not detecting the wired beacon by the node; and in response to the determining to communicate directly with the gateway, providing, by the node, wireless access to a node pair of the hybrid mesh network, the node pair being connected by a respective Ethernet connection and a respective wireless link; wherein the respective wireless link between the node pair is suspended based on a comparison of throughputs to the node, and wherein the comparison of throughputs to the node indicates that a first node in the node pair has a higher throughput, and wherein the node is configured to provide wireless access to the first node in the node pair in response to the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for determining role assignment in a hybrid mesh network, the system comprising:
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a node communicatively connected to a gateway of the hybrid mesh network by an Ethernet connection and a wireless link, wherein the node is configured to; send a message to the gateway via the Ethernet connection, the message requesting a response from the gateway; and determine a path by which the node communicates information to the gateway based on the response from the gateway to the message and a detectable presence of a wired beacon on the Ethernet connection, wherein the node is configured to determine to communicate with the gateway through an intermediate node in response to the wired beacon being detected by the node, and wherein the node is configured to determine to communicate directly with the gateway without passing the information through any intermediate node in response to not detecting the wired beacon by the node, and in response to the determining to communicate directly with the gateway, provide wireless access to a node pair of the hybrid mesh network, the node pair being connected by a respective Ethernet connection and a respective wireless link; wherein the respective wireless link between the node pair is suspended based on a comparison of throughputs to the node, and wherein the comparison of throughputs to the node indicates that a first node in the node pair has a higher throughput, and wherein the node is configured to provide wireless access to the first node in the node pair in response to the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for determining role assignment in a hybrid mesh network, the method comprising:
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sending, by a node of the hybrid mesh network, a message to a gateway of the hybrid mesh network via an Ethernet connection, the message requesting a response from the gateway, wherein the node is connected to the gateway by a wireless link in addition to the Ethernet connection; and determining, by the node, a path by which the node communicates information to the gateway based on the response received from the gateway to the message and further based on a detectable presence of a wired beacon on the Ethernet connection, wherein the determining the path comprises determining to communicate with the gateway through an intermediate node in response to detecting a wired beacon by the node, and wherein the determining the path further comprises determining to communicate directly with the gateway without passing through any intermediate node in response to not detecting the wired beacon by the node; and in response to the determining to communicate directly with the gateway, providing, by the node, wireless access to a node pair of the hybrid mesh network, the node pair being connected by a respective Ethernet connection and a respective wireless link; wherein the respective wireless link between the node pair is suspended based on a comparison of throughputs to the node, and wherein the comparison of throughputs to the node indicates that a first node in the node pair has a higher throughput, and wherein the node is configured to provide wireless access to the first node in the node pair in response to the comparison.
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Specification