Dynamic beaconing in wireless mesh networks
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsLiuyang Lily Yang, Bahareh Sadeghi
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Abstract
A method, apparatus and system for communicating in a wireless mesh network may relate to a mesh point observing beacon transmissions of one or more neighboring mesh points and dynamically determining if and when to transmit its own beacon based on these observations. Determining when to transmit the beacon may be performed without time synchronization between the one or more neighboring mesh points and be dynamically selected based on the observed transmission time pattern of the neighboring mesh points. Various additional details and embodiments are also disclosed.
Claims15
A method of transmitting a beacon by a mesh point in a wireless mesh network, the method comprising:
- setting a value of a probability of subsequent beaconing P to 1 by generating a beacon when entering the wireless mesh network;
- adjusting the probability of subsequent beaconing P value by applying a linear adjustment value (ΔP);
- dynamically determining the value of the probability of subsequent beaconing P in order to transmit the beacon during a next beacon interval based on the observations of a longest interval of silence (Imax) between two beacon intervals of one or more neighboring mesh points;
- comparing a random number to the probability of subsequent beaconing P value;
- and
- transmitting the beacon based on the comparison.
A wireless device comprising:
- a medium access control (MAC) circuit to set a value of a probability of subsequent beaconing P to 1 by generating a beacon when entering the wireless mesh network,
- to adjust the probability of subsequent beaconing P value by applying a linear adjustment value (ΔP);
- and
- a dynamic beacon controller to dynamically determine the probability to transmit the beacon during a next beacon interval based on observations of a longest interval of silence (Imax) between two beacon intervals of one or more neighboring mesh points and to compare a random number to value of the probability of subsequent beaconing P;
- and
- a transmitter to transmit the beacon on a beacon interval based on the comparison.
A system for use in a wireless mesh network, the system comprising:
- a medium access control (MAC) circuit to set a probability of subsequent beaconing P value to 1 by generating a beacon when entering the wireless mesh network,
- to adjust a value of a probability of subsequent beaconing P by applying a linear adjustment value (ΔP);
- a dynamic beacon controller to dynamically determine a value of the probability of subsequent beaconing P in order to transmit the beacon during a next beacon interval based on observations of a longest interval of silence (Imax) between two beacon intervals of one or more neighboring mesh points and to compare a random number to the value of the probability of subsequent beaconing P;
- a radio frequency (RF) interface communicatively coupled to the processing circuit, said RF interface including a transmitter to transmit a beacon based on the determined beacon transmission time pattern;
- and
- at least one antenna coupled to the RF interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.