US 8,014,378 B1Granted

Method and apparatus for automatic control of time-of-day synchronization and merging of networks

AssigneeITT Manufacturing Enterprise, Inc.

InventorsChang-June C. J. Yoon, Patrick R. Walsh

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for synchronizing time of day (TOD) information between radio nodes of a network and for detecting and merging otherwise isolated radio networks. In this manner individual isolated networks are able start when they are ready and once connectivity is detected with another network, the two networks can merge. Radio nodes within each network periodically send out TOD messages and periodically receive TOD messages issued by other nodes look to identify networks within communication range. Upon detecting another network a radio node informs a central control node that uses network detection information received from its members to determine the extent of the connectivity between the two networks and whether to merge the two networks. Network searching is optimized to limit impact on the overall network performance, resulting in little or no degradation in network performance.

Claims38

Dependent claims

A communication unit that transmits messages to and receives messages from neighboring communication units, the communication unit comprising:

a transmitter to transmit an outgoing message to a neighboring communication unit;
a receiver to receive an incoming message from a neighboring communication unit;
a storage unit to store communication unit connectivity information, neighboring communication unit connectivity information and merge request information;
and
a processor to control said transmission of outgoing messages and reception of incoming messages, wherein said processor includes:
a synchronization module to join the communication unit to an existing communication network at power up from among a plurality of existing communication networks each with a different Time Of Day synchronization mode, and to start an isolated network with neighboring communication units in response to failure to join the communication unit to at least one of the existing communication networks;
a merge module to examine said stored communication unit connectivity information, stored neighboring communication unit connectivity information and stored merge request information to determine merge control parameters to control merger between the network containing the communication unit and operating in a first Time Of Day synchronization mode and a neighboring communication network operating in a second Time Of Day synchronization mode that is different from the first mode, wherein the network containing the communication unit includes a plurality of communication units and said neighboring communication network includes a plurality of communication nodes;
and
a controller module to control merging of the communication unit with said neighboring communication network in accordance with said merge control parameters determined by said merge module to merge the network containing the communication unit with the neighboring communication network.

6 more elements

In a communication network having a plurality of communication units, a communication unit that transmits messages to and receives messages from neighboring communication units, the communication unit comprising:

a transmitter to transmit an outgoing message to a neighboring communication unit;
a receiver to receive an incoming message from a neighboring communication unit;
a storage unit to store communication unit connectivity information, neighboring communication unit connectivity information and merge request information;
and
a processor to control said transmission of outgoing messages and reception of incoming messages, wherein said processor includes:
a merge module to examine said stored communication unit connectivity information, stored neighboring communication unit connectivity information and stored merge request information to determine merge control parameters to control merger between the communication unit operating in a first Time Of Day synchronization mode and a neighboring communication network operating in a second Time Of Day synchronization mode that is different from the first mode;
a controller module to control merging of the communication unit with said neighboring communication network in accordance with said merge control parameters determined by said merge module;
and
a search module to determine search parameters that control the manner in which the communication unit searches for neighboring communication units and neighboring communication network nodes, wherein said search module includes:
a scan window module to determine a scan window interval during which the communication unit receives incoming network connectivity messages, wherein the scan window module determines the scan window interval based upon a user configurable reference scan window value and a percentage of network size parameter value for the communication network to which the communication unit belongs;
and
a scan window delay module to determine a delay between scan window intervals;
wherein the controller module further controls transmission of outgoing messages and reception of incoming messages in a manner consistent with search parameters determined by the search module.

10 more elements

A communication network comprising:

a plurality of communication units each having connectivity with a plurality of neighboring communication units that belong to the same communication network operating in a first Time Of Day synchronization mode, wherein each communication unit includes a synchronization module to join that communication unit to an existing communication network at power up from among a plurality of existing communication networks each with a different Time Of Day synchronization mode, and to start an isolated network with neighboring communication units in response to failure to join that communication unit to at least one of the existing communication networks;
wherein one of said communication units is designated a control node that is delegated authority for controlling merges between the communication network to which the control node belongs and operating in the first Time Of Day synchronization mode and a selected neighboring communication network operating in a second Time Of Day synchronization mode that is different from the first mode, wherein the selected neighboring communication network includes a plurality of communication units, and wherein the control node includes:
a connectivity information storage module to store connectivity information related to connectivity between a plurality of communication units within said network and a plurality of neighboring communication units that belong to neighboring communication networks;
a merge module to examine the stored connectivity information and to set merge control parameters that control whether a merge is initiated between the communication network operating in the first Time Of Day synchronization mode to which the control node belongs and the selected neighboring communication network operating in the second Time Of Day synchronization mode;
and
a controller module to control network merging in a manner consistent with merge parameters determined by the merge module.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.