Mesh network operations
AssigneeMarvell International Ltd.
InventorsSandesh Goel, Ashish Kumar Shukla
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various embodiments provide improved mesh networks with properties that address various shortcomings of current mesh network implementations. At least some embodiments are directed to improving operations of mesh networks in connection with battery powered devices and address concerns associated with latency issues due to power save nodes as well as load balancing. Yet other embodiments address route cache timeouts, reduce route discovery overhead, perform proactive route maintenance based on a node's battery, and provide a straightforward battery-aware process based sleep protocol.
Claims27
A method comprising:
- defining a received signal strength indication (RSSI) threshold in a mesh network;
- receiving a route request (RREQ) frame;
- ascertaining whether an RSSI associated with the RREQ frame is less than the RSSI threshold;
- discarding the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is less than the RSSI threshold;
- processing the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is not less than the RSSI threshold;
- responsive to discarding the received RREQ frame, entering information associated with the discarded RREQ frame in a list;
- receiving a same RREQ frame;
- and
- forwarding the same RREQ frame to one or more nodes in the mesh network.
A method comprising:
- defining a received signal strength indication (RSSI) threshold in a mesh network;
- receiving a route request (RREQ) frame;
- ascertaining whether an RSSI associated with the RREQ frame is less than the RSSI threshold;
- discarding the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is less than the RSSI threshold;
- processing the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is not less than the RSSI threshold;
- receiving another RREQ frame;
- forwarding said another RREQ frame to one or more other nodes in the mesh network;
- starting a timer for a given search time;
- receiving one or more subsequent RREQ frames;
- ascertaining whether the timer has expired;
- dropping subsequently received RREQ frames if the timer has expired;
- if the timer has not expired, comparing the received subsequent RREQ frames with a previously received RREQ frame;
- and
- if the timer has expired, forwarding one of the received subsequent RREQ frames.
A node device of a mesh network comprising a control processor and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver operative to:
- define a received signal strength indication (RSSI) threshold in the mesh network;
- receive, through the WLAN transceiver, a route request (RREQ) frame;
- ascertain whether an RSSI associated with the RREQ frame is less than the RSSI threshold;
- discard the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is less than the RSSI threshold;
- process the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is not less than the RSSI threshold;
- responsive to the discard of the received RREQ frame, enter through the signal-processing or control circuits, information associated with the discarded RREQ frame in a list;
- receive, through the WLAN transceiver, a same RREQ frame;
- and
- forward, through the WLAN transceiver, the same RREQ frame to one or more nodes in the mesh network.
A node device of a mesh network comprising a control processor and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver operative to:
- define a received signal strength indication (RSSI) threshold in the mesh network;
- receive, through the WLAN transceiver, a route request (RREQ) frame;
- ascertain whether an RSSI associated with the RREQ frame is less than the RSSI threshold;
- discard the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is less than the RSSI threshold;
- process the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is not less than the RSSI threshold;
- receive, through the WLAN transceiver, another RREQ frame;
- forward, through the WLAN transceiver, said another RREQ frame to one or more other nodes in the mesh network;
- start a timer for a given search time;
- receive, through the WLAN transceiver, one or more subsequent RREQ frames;
- ascertain whether the timer has expired;
- drop subsequently received RREQ frames if the timer has expired;
- if the timer has not expired, compare the received subsequent RREQ frames with a previously received RREQ frame;
- and if the timer has expired, forward, through the WLAN transceiver, one of the received subsequent RREQ frames.
One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a communication module to:
- define a received signal strength indication (RSSI) threshold in a mesh network;
- receive a route request (RREQ) frame;
- ascertain whether an RSSI associated with the RREQ frame is less than the RSSI threshold;
- discard the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is less than the RSSI threshold;
- and
- process the received RREQ frame if the RREQ frame's RSSI is not less than the RSSI threshold;
- responsive to discarding the received RREQ frame, enter information associated with the discarded RREQ frame in a list;
- receive a same RREQ frame;
- and
- forward the same RREQ frame to one or more nodes in the mesh network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.