UPDATING NODE PRESENCE BASED ON COMMUNICATION PATHWAY

• US 20100150026A1
• Filed: 10/29/2009
• Published: 06/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: ROBINS, David S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,462,662 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A data communications network, for which presence information is maintained for wireless data communication devices forming nodes of the network, includes: a presence server; and a plurality of nodes formed by the wireless data communication devices, each of the devices configured to send periodic check-in messages to the presence server. The presence server is configured to send an acknowledgment in response to a check-in message. Each of the wireless data communication devices is configured to reset a timer associated with the sending of the check-in messages by it upon (i) communicating, as an intermediate node, a check-in message originating at another node, and (ii) communicating, as an intermediate node, a corresponding acknowledgment originating at the presence server. The presence server is configured to update presence information of wireless data communication device from which a check-in message originates and each intermediate node.

Claims

1-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A method of maintaining presence information associated with a wireless data communication device of a data communications network, comprising the steps of:

(a) communicating a message from a first node of the data communications network to a gateway device along a pathway, the pathway including the wireless data communication device as an intermediary node of the pathway;

(b) including with the message the pathway by which the message is communicated in the wireless data communication device;

(c) storing, in a computer readable medium at the gateway device, information representing the pathway;

(d) updating, at the gateway device, presence information of the wireless data communication device;

(e) communicating an acknowledgment of the message to the first node along the reverse pathway; and

(f) upon communicating the acknowledgement of the message by the wireless data communication device in said step (e), resetting a timer used by the wireless data communication device to trigger the sending of a presence indication of the wireless data communication device to the gateway device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of communicating, by the gateway device, to an application of a client device, the message from the first node.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of receiving, by the gateway device, an acknowledgement of the message from the application of the client device for communicating to the first node.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the wireless data communication device is configured to communicate a check-in message when the timer reaches a certain value.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the gateway device, the first node, and the wireless data communication device forming an intermediate node are part of a network utilizing class based networking.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the first node and the wireless data communication device forming an intermediary node utilize wake-up technology.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising, prior to communicating a message from a first node, registering with the gateway device by the wireless data communication device.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the gateway device, the first node, and the wireless data communication device forming an intermediary node are part of a mesh network.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of resetting a timer occurs contemporaneously with the step of communicating the acknowledgment.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein the gateway device comprises a gateway server.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of communicating to a client device comprises communicating over the Internet.

28. The method of claim 17, wherein the wireless data communication device comprises a data packet radio component.

29. A method of indicating presence by a wireless data communication device that forms a node in a data communications network, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving, at the wireless data communication device, a message originating at a first node and addressed to a gateway device;

(b) storing, in a computer readable medium of the wireless data communication device, information associated with the message;

(c) communicating, by the wireless data communication device, for delivery to gateway device, the message to another node of the data communications network;

(d) receiving, at the wireless data communication device, an acknowledgment of the message by the gateway device;

(e) resetting a timer at the wireless data communication device; and

(f) communicating, by the wireless data communication device, for delivery to the first node, the acknowledgment of the message by the gateway device;

(g) wherein the wireless data communication device is configured to communicate a message to the gateway device indicating the presence of the wireless data communication device as a node in the data communications network at predetermined intervals based on the timer.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of communicating the message to the gateway device comprises communicating the message directly to the gateway device.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of communicating the message to the gateway device comprises communicating the message indirectly to the gateway device via one or more other nodes.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of communicating the acknowledgment of the message to the first node comprises communicating the message directly to the first node.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of communicating the acknowledgment of the message to the first node comprises communicating the message indirectly to the first node via one or more other nodes.

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of, prior to said step of receiving a message originating at a first node, registering, by the intermediary node, with the gateway device.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the gateway device, the first node, and the intermediary node are part of a mesh network.

36. The method of claim 29, wherein the gateway device, the first node, and the intermediary node are part of a network utilizing class based networking.

37-41. -41. (canceled)