Mesh-to-cluster protocol

A system for sending a message through a network of nodes, comprising:

• a first subset of nodes, each node in the first subset of nodes including at least one directional antenna and being identified as a cluster-head node;
• a second subset of nodes, each node in the second subset of nodes including an omni-directional antenna;
• at least one cell region, each cell comprising a cluster-head node and a cluster of nodes from the second subset of nodes, each node in the cluster being proximate to the cluster-head node;
• and,
• at least one mesh region, the mesh including nodes remote from each cluster-head;
• wherein the message is sent from a sending node via the cell and/or the mesh in dependence on whether the sending node is a cluster-head type node.

A system for sending a message through a network of nodes, comprising at least one cell region and at least one mesh region, wherein:

• each cell region includes:
• a cluster-head node, the cluster-head node having at least one directional antenna operable to send and/or receive the message directly to at least one cell node, the at least one cell node having an omni-directional antenna;
• wherein the cell region is capable of being formed in accordance with a clustering algorithm that clusters the at least one cell node around the cluster-head node;
• each mesh region includes:
• at least one mesh node operable to send and/or receive a message, the at least one mesh node having an omni-directional antenna;
• wherein the at least one mesh node is located remote from the cluster-head node of the cell region;
• and further wherein each node in the network of nodes is capable of executing primitives, the primitives being capable at least of identifying a node to which the message should be sent and whether the message should be sent through the cell region or the mesh region.

A system for sending a message through a network of nodes, wherein each node in a first subset of nodes includes at least one directional antenna, and each node in a second subset of nodes includes an omni-directional antenna, comprising:

• means for identifying as a cluster-head each node in the first subset of nodes;
• means for clustering into a cell those nodes in the second subset of nodes that are proximate to each cluster-head;
• means for creating a mesh, the mesh including nodes remote from each cluster-head;
• and,
• means for sending the message from a sending node via the cell and/or the mesh in dependence on whether the sending node is a cluster-head type node.