Redundant traffic suppression relaying mechanism for ble-mesh systems

A BLE-Mesh device, comprising:

• a controller comprising a processor coupled to a memory and to a transceiver, an RF driver for driving said transceiver, said transceiver adapted to be coupled to an antenna, said controller implementing an applications layer including BLE applications and Mesh Applications, and a BLE stack for BLE operations and a mesh stack for mesh operation, and a counter;
• a redundant traffic suppression relaying algorithm that comprises software stored in said memory that is implemented by said processor or is implemented by hardware including digital logic, said algorithm:
• waiting for a random time within a selected time window from a time W1 to a later time W2 wherein said W2>said W1 before attempting to transmit a first packet that has a sender's source (SRC) address for a first relay device and a sequence (SEQ) number;
• if during said random time a packet with both said SRC address for said first relay device and said SEQ number for said first packet is received by said first relay device, incrementing said counter from an initial count to generate a current count;
• after said random time elapses, comparing said current count to a Cthreshold value, and
• transmitting said first packet only if said current count <said Cthreshold value.