Reliable link quality estimation in multi-rate networks

A network communication device comprising:

• a radio configured to communicate with a second network communication device;
• one or more processors communicatively coupled to the radio;
• and
• memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the network communication device to perform operations comprising:
• communicating, via a communication link, with the second network communication device according to a first modulation scheme and, based at least in part on the first modulation scheme, determining first communication metric data;
• communicating, via the communication link, with the second network communication device according to a second modulation scheme and, based at least in part on the second modulation scheme, determining second communication metric data;
• and
• determining link quality metric data associated with the communication link, the link quality metric data associated with the communication link being based at least in part on the first communication metric data and the second communication metric data,
• wherein:
• the determining the link quality metric data includes, for the first modulation scheme and the second modulation scheme:
• calculating an expected transmission (ETX) at a defined epoch;
• and
• applying a filtering calculation to the ETX,
• the determining the link quality metric data associated with the communication link includes applying a first weighting coefficient to the first communication metric data and a second weighting coefficient to the second communication metric data,
• the first weighting coefficient is based at least in part on a number of transmission attempts made according to the first modulation scheme;
• and
• the second weighting coefficient is based at least in part on a number of transmission attempts made according to the second modulation scheme.

One or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed, instruct one or more processors of a network communication device to perform operations comprising:

• causing the network communication device to communicate, via a communication link, with a second network communication device according to a first modulation scheme and, based at least in part on the first modulation scheme, determining first communication metric data;
• causing the network communication device to communicate, via the communication link, with the second network communication device according to a second modulation scheme and, based at least in part on the second modulation scheme, determining second communication metric data;
• and
• determining link quality metric data associated with the communication link, the link quality metric data associated with the communication link being based at least in part on the first communication metric data and the second communication metric data,
• wherein:
• the determining the link quality metric data includes, for the first modulation scheme and the second modulation scheme:
• calculating an expected transmission (ETX) at a defined epoch;
• and
• applying a filtering calculation to the ETX,
• the determining the link quality metric data associated with the communication link includes applying a first weighting coefficient to the first communication metric data and a second weighting coefficient to the second communication metric data;
• the first weighting coefficient is based at least in part on a number of transmission attempts made according to the first modulation scheme;
• and
• the second weighting coefficient is based at least in part on a number of transmission attempts made according to the second modulation scheme.