Adaptive multipath routing failure recovery in a wireless network

A method for operating a wireless network (100) comprising a plurality of nodes (102), the method comprising:

• each node generating a set of paths to a head node (104);
• initiating an adaptive failure recovery method in the event of a source node (106) sending a message data packet upstream and a discovery node (112) encountering a failed node (108), wherein the discovery node (112) is a node on a path (110) taken by the message data packet from the source node (106) to a destination node, the adaptive recovery failure method comprising the steps of:
• collecting, at the discovery node (112), relevant data, the relevant data comprising:
• a hop-distance between the failed node (108) and the source node (106);
• a count of estimated extra hops required to deliver the data packet using a hop-distance recovery method;
• a count of estimated extra hops required to deliver the data packet using a multipath recovery method;
• a latency time for the hop-distance recovery method;
• and
• a latency time for the multipath recovery method;
• comparing, at the discovery node (112), latencies of the hop-distance recovery method and the multipath recovery method calculated from the relevant data;
• and
• depending on the comparison, selecting the hop-distance recovery method or the multipath recovery method.