Method for routing information in a mesh communication network

A node in a mesh communication network including a plurality of nodes, each node having a data communication rate that represents the time when each node periodically wake-up, and each node having a transceiver circuitry and being configured to communicate wirelessly with adjacent nodes;

• wherein the node is a source node and is configured to:
• estimate a number of transmissions, (ETX), needed for a successful link-local transaction between adjacent nodes in the network;
• determine alternative routes between the node and a target node, via one or more transit nodes;
• determine a route rank between the node and the target node for each alternative route based on the ETX and the data communication rate for each transit node;
• and
• route information using the alternative route having a lowest route rank;
• wherein each transit node and the target node in an alternative route has a parent node, and wherein the route rank is determined based on a node rank calculated for each transit node and the target node in the alternative route;
• wherein the node rank for a given node is derived from both the node rank of its parent node and a product of the ETX from the parent link and the data communication rate of the given node.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program for routing information from a source node to a target node in a mesh communication network, and having instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising:

• setting a data communication rate for each node, wherein the data communication rate is based on performance settings of each node and represents the time when each node periodically wake-up;
• estimating a number of transmissions, (ETX), needed for a successful link-local transaction between adjacent nodes in the network;
• determining alternative routes between the source node and the target node, via one or more transit nodes;
• determining a route rank between the source node and the target node for each alternative route based on the ETX and the data communication rate for each transit node;
• and
• routing information using the alternative route having a lowest route rank;
• wherein each transit node and the target node in an alternative route has a parent node, and wherein the route rank is determined based on a node rank calculated for each transit node and the target node in the alternative route;
• wherein the node rank for a given node is derived from both the node rank of its parent node and a product of the ETX from the parent link and the data communication rate of the given node.