POWER-CONSERVING NETWORK DEVICE FOR ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE
First Claim
1. A method for accessing access point services by a device, comprising:
- receiving at least one transmission from at least one candidate router, the transmission including candidate router information;
selecting a particular router from the at least one candidate router;
associating with an access point by transmitting a device identifier to the access point via the selected particular router;
transmitting a request for an access point service;
initiating an energy conserving cycle; and
retrieving a held message from the particular router after automatically waking up from the energy conserving cycle, wherein the held message is received by the particular router during the energy conserving cycle responsive to the request for the access point service.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system may provide supporting reduced functionality devices in an AMI system. The method may include receiving at least one transmission from at least one candidate router, the transmission including candidate router information. The method may include selecting a router from the at least one candidate router. The method may include associating with a mesh gate by sending a device identifier to the mesh gate via the selected router. The method may include initiating a sleep cycle. The method may include receiving a held message from the router after waking up from the sleep cycle, wherein the held message is received by the router during the sleep cycle.
114 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for accessing access point services by a device, comprising:
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receiving at least one transmission from at least one candidate router, the transmission including candidate router information; selecting a particular router from the at least one candidate router; associating with an access point by transmitting a device identifier to the access point via the selected particular router; transmitting a request for an access point service; initiating an energy conserving cycle; and retrieving a held message from the particular router after automatically waking up from the energy conserving cycle, wherein the held message is received by the particular router during the energy conserving cycle responsive to the request for the access point service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method, comprising:
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associating with a mesh network, the mesh network in communication with at least one mesh device; transmitting a router information to a reduced functionality device; receiving a device identifier from the reduced functionality device indicating a request for router services; forwarding communications from the reduced functionality device to a mesh device on the mesh network; responsive to receiving a message addressed to the reduced functionality device, holding the received message if the reduced functionality device is in a sleep cycle; and responsive to the reduced functionality device waking from the sleep cycle, transmitting the held received messages to the reduced functionality device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A device, comprising:
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a radio adapted for communicating within a mesh network; and a processor in communication with the radio, wherein in operation, the device is configured to; receive at least one transmission from at least one candidate router operating in the mesh network, the transmission including candidate router information; select a particular router from among the at least one candidate router; associate with an access point by sending a device identifier to the access point via the selected particular router; transmit a request for an access point service; initiate an energy conserving mode cycle; and retrieve a held message from the particular router after waking up from the energy conserving mode cycle, wherein the held message is received by the particular router during the device energy conserving mode cycle responsive to request of the access point service. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An advanced metering infrastructure system comprising:
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a mesh network; a plurality of routers at least intermittently coupled with the mesh network; a plurality of access points at least intermittently coupled with the mesh network; a plurality of wireless node devices adapted for communication with each other within the mesh network, each wireless node device including; a radio adapted for wireless communicating within the mesh network; and a processor coupled for communication with the radio; the wireless node devices being configured for operation so that in operation each node device selects a particular router from the plurality of network routers, associates with a particular access point selected from the plurality of access points, enters an energy conserving operating state during which it is not able to receive any message from the network, and awakes from the energy conserving state to retrieve a message communicated on the network during the energy conserving state from the particular router.
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29. A computer program stored in a computer readable form for execution in a processor and a processor coupled memory to implement a method for accessing access point services by a power-conserving network device, the method comprising:
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receiving at least one transmission from at least one candidate router, the transmission including candidate router information; selecting a particular router from the at least one candidate router; associating with an access point by transmitting a device identifier to the access point via the selected particular router; transmitting a request for an access point service; initiating an energy conserving cycle; and retrieving a held message from the particular router after automatically waking up from the energy conserving cycle, wherein the held message is received by the particular router during the energy conserving cycle responsive to the request for the access point service.
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30. A computer program stored in a computer readable form for execution in a processor and a processor coupled memory to implement a method comprising:
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associating with a mesh network, the mesh network in communication with at least one mesh device; transmitting a router information to a reduced functionality device; receiving a device identifier from the reduced functionality device indicating a request for router services; forwarding communications from the reduced functionality device to a mesh device on the mesh network; responsive to receiving a message addressed to the reduced functionality device, holding the received message if the reduced functionality device is in a sleep cycle; and responsive to the reduced functionality device waking from the sleep cycle, transmitting the held received messages to the reduced functionality device.
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31. A method for accessing access point services by a power-conserving network device via a particular router, comprising:
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associating with a mesh network by the particular router, the mesh network in communication with at least one mesh device; transmitting a router information from the particular router to the power-conserving network device; receiving at least one transmission at the power-conserving network device from at least one candidate router including the particular router, the transmission including candidate router information; selecting the particular router from the at least one candidate router at the power-conserving network device; receiving a device identifier at the particular router from the power-conserving network device indicating a request for router services; associating with an access point by transmitting a device identifier to the access point via the selected particular router; transmitting a request for an access point service from the power-conserving network device to the particular router; forwarding communications from the power-conserving network device to a mesh device on the mesh network by the particular router; initiating an energy conserving cycle by the power-conserving network device; responsive to receiving a message at the particular router addressed to the power-conserving network device, holding the received message if the power-conserving network device is in the energy conserving cycle; responsive to the power-conserving network device waking from the energy conserving cycle, transmitting the held received messages to the power-conserving network device from the particular router; and retrieving a held message from the particular router after automatically waking up from the energy conserving cycle, wherein the held message is received by the particular router during the energy conserving cycle responsive to the request for the access point service.
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Specification