US 7,693,051 B2Granted

System and method for controlling congestion in multihopping wireless networks

AssigneeMeshNetworks, Inc.

InventorsSebnem Z. Ozer, Surong Zeng, Charles R. Barker, Jr.

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Abstract

A system and method to control congestion in a multihopping wireless communication network (100). The system and method distribute the congestion information back to the ingress points (106) and traffic source nodes (102, 106, 107) in the network (100) through the actual route of the data flow that contributes to the congestion. The system and method therefore avoid bottleneck points (102-5) in the network (100) to reduce congestion. The system and method can be used for packet-based, route-based or flow-based traffic shaping in a multihop wireless network (100) employing different media access control (MAC) and routing layer protocols. Moreover, the system and method is capable of distributing congestion and service differentiation information between different interfaces in the network (100).

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for controlling congestion in an ad-hoc wireless communication network, the method comprising:

establishing a communication route from a source node to a destination node, at least one of the source node and destination node being in the ad-hoc wireless communication network;
detecting congestion by a congested node, along the communication route, based on dynamic behavior of the congested node and at least one neighboring node associated with the congested node, and channel and traffic characteristics of the ad-hoc wireless communication network;
when congestion is detected at the congested node, operating the congested node to send a congestion warning message for delivery to a source node via at least one intermediate node in the route that forward packets addressed to the destination node through the congested node, wherein the congestion warning message includes a congestion metric, and further wherein the congestion warning message informs the source node and the at least one intermediate node to regulate packet flow that contributes to the congestion in the communication route;
and
operating the source node, and the at least one intermediate node to each set a timeout value representing a duration of congestion at the congestion node based on information included in the congestion warning message.

2 more elements

An ad-hoc wireless communication network, comprising:

a plurality of nodes, comprising a source node and a destination node, the source node operating to communicate with the destination node via a route comprising at least one of the plurality of nodes;
each node in the route operating to identify whether it is a congested node based on dynamic behavior of the congested node and at least one neighboring node associated with the congested node, and channel and traffic characteristics of the ad-hoc wireless communication network and, in response, sending a congestion warning message for delivery to the source node via at least one other node in the route that forwards packets addressed to the destination node through the congested node, wherein the congestion warning message, includes a congestion metric, and further wherein the congestion warning message informs the source node and the at least one other node, to regulate packet flow that contributes to the congestion in the communication route;
and
the source node and the at least one other node in the route, operating to each set a timeout value representing a duration of congestion at the congestion node based on information included in the congestion warning message.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/300,526Filed 14 Dec 2005 · us provisional application
Priority: 17 Dec 2004
Published: US 2006/0146704 A16 Jul 2006
Granted: 6 Apr 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

H04L 47/11
Flow control; Congestion control: identifying congestion
H04L 47/122
Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion: by diverting traffic away from congested entities
H04W 8/04
Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of…:…
H04W 28/021
Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control: in wireless networks with changing topologies, e.g. ad-hoc networks