Systems, methods and apparatus for facilitating deterministic network routing

• US 8,111,651 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2008
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TeraHop Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Twitchell, Robert W. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pérez-Gutiérrez, Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Arevalo, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US12/271,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20090092082A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,179 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/331, 370/248, 370/238, 370/389, 370/351, 455/441
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/28 for reactive routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

In a wireless network that includes a plurality of nodes, a method of maintaining, by a first node, information regarding communications links between nodes in the wireless network includes: for each communications link that is established with another node, recording an identification of the other node; and for each message received by the first node from the other node through the communications link with the other node, recording a network pathway by which the message has been sent in the wireless network, the network pathway identifying the nodes and the communications links therebetween by which the message has been sent. Another method includes recording, by a server, for each message that is received by the server from the wireless network, a network pathway by which the message has been sent, the network pathway identifying the nodes and the communications links therebetween by which the message has been sent.

Claims

1. A wireless two-way RF data communication device that forms a node of a data communications network, the device comprising:

(a) a memory having stored therein an unique identifier of the wireless two-way RF data communication device that uniquely identifies the wireless two-way RF data communication device within the data communications network;

(b) a receiver configured to receive radio frequency transmissions;

(c) a transmitter configured to make radio frequency transmissions; and

(d) electronic components arranged and configured such that the wireless two-way RF data communication device communicates with other nodes of the data communications network in communicating messages from originating nodes to destination nodes, and such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of the wireless two-way RF data communication device;

(e) wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of each intermediate node by which the message has been communicated in the data communications network and a link quality for each communication link in the pathway by which the message has been communicated in the data communications network;

(f) wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured to calculate an overall link quality for a pathway; and

(g) wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured to identify known pathways to a destination node in the data communications network, compare overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways, and send a message to the destination node by one of the identified known pathways as a function of the comparison of the overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways.

2. The wireless two-way RF data communication device of claim 1, wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of the originating node for the message in the data communications network.

3. A data communications network, comprising:

(a) a plurality of wireless two-way radio frequency (RF) data communication devices, each wireless two-way RF data communication device forming a node of the data communications network and each wireless two-way RF data communication device including a memory having stored therein an unique identifier of the wireless two-way RF data communication device;

(b) wherein each wireless two-way RF data communication device comprises,

(i) a receiver configured to receive radio frequency transmissions,

(ii) a transmitter configured to make radio frequency transmissions, and

(iii) electronic components arranged and configured such that the wireless two-way RF data communication device communicates with other wireless two-way RF data communication devices of the data communications network in communicating messages from originating nodes to destination nodes, and such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of the originating node for the message, the unique identification of each intermediate node by which the message has been communicated in the data communications network, whereby the pathway by which each message is communicated in the data communications network is included with the message,

(iv) wherein each communication of a message within the data communications network includes, for each communications link between nodes identified in the pathway by which the message has been communicated, a link quality,

(v) wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured to calculate an overall link quality for a pathway, and

(vi) wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured to identify known pathways to a destination node in the data communications network, compare overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways, and send a message to the destination node by one of the identified known pathways as a function of the comparison of the overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways.

4. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein the identification of an intermediate node of the pathway by which the electronic message has been communicated is added to the pathway information by an intermediate node.

5. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein each node comprises a wireless radio-frequency data communication device having a transmitter and a receiver that collectively receive and transmit information wirelessly.

6. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein each wireless two-way RF data communication device comprises a data packet radio component that includes both said receiver and said transmitter of the respective wireless two-way RF data communication device, the data packet radio component being standards-based.

7. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein the information is wirelessly communicated in data packets.

8. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein the data communication device includes an interface for communicating with a sensor for receiving sensor-acquired data.

9. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein the data communication device is attached to an asset for monitoring and tracking of the asset.

10. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein the data communication device is permanently affixed to a structure for monitoring and/or tracking assets that come within a proximity thereto.

11. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein the communication includes a message identification that is unique to the message being communicated within the data communications network.

12. The data communications network of claim 3, wherein each communication of a message within the data communications network includes a predetermined pathway by which the message is to be communicated.

13. In a data network comprising a plurality of wireless two-way radio frequency (RE) data communication devices, each wireless two-way RF data communication device forming a node of the data communications network, a method of tracking a pathway by which a message is communicated within a data communications network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) maintaining a unique identification of each of the plurality of wireless two-way RF data communication devices that form a node of the data communications network; and

(b) for each wireless two-way RF data communication device that communicates a message in the data communications network, including with the message the unique identification of the wireless two-way RF data communication device such that the pathway by which the message is sent from an originating node to a destination node is communicated to the destination node upon delivery of the message to the destination node, wherein each wireless two-way RF data communication device that comprises an intermediate node with respect to communicating a message from an originating node to a destination node in the data communications network includes with the message its unique identification when communicating the message to the next subsequent node;

(c) for each node that receives a communicated message from a wireless two-way RF data communication device in the data communications network, including with the unique identification of the two-way RF data communication device a link quality of the communications link established between with the wireless two-way RF data communication device and the node receiving the communicated message such that a link quality for each communication link in the pathway by which the message is sent from an originating node to a destination node is communicated to the destination node upon delivery of the message to the destination node;

(d) calculating an overall link quality for the pathway by which the message is sent from an originating node to a destination node;

the method further comprising the steps of identifying known pathways to a destination node in the data communications network, comparing overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways, and sending a message to the destination node by one of the identified known pathways as a function of the comparison of the overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each node in the data communications network that receives a communication of a message from a wireless two-way RF data communication device includes, with the message, the unique identification of the wireless two-way RF data communication device from which the message is communicated.