Support for network management and device communications in a wireless network

A method of transferring data in a wireless mesh communication network, the wireless mesh communication network including a plurality of wireless field devices and operating in a process control environment, and the method comprising:

• generating, by a network manager computing device in communicative connection with the wireless mesh communication network, a communication schedule for the wireless mesh communication network, including:
• defining, by the network manager computing device, a plurality of three or more concurrent overlapping superframes as repeating cycles of a number of consecutively scheduled communication timeslots, wherein each of the consecutively scheduled communication timeslots is of a certain duration and at least two of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes each includes a different number of communication timeslots;
• associating, by the network manager computing device, a first one of the plurality of concurrent superframes with network management data, wherein the first one of the plurality of concurrent superframes has a first number of communication timeslots and each of the plurality of field devices receives the network management data in at least one of the communication timeslots of the first one of the plurality of concurrent superframes;
• and
• associating, by the network manager computing device, a subset of the plurality of concurrent superframes including second and third ones of the plurality of concurrent superframes with process control data, wherein the subset does not include the first one of the plurality of concurrent superframes, and wherein process control data includes measurement data generated at one or more of the plurality of wireless field devices and control signals to control an operation of one or more of the plurality of wireless field devices as a part of a respective process control scheme, including:
• associating, by the network manager computing device, the second one of the plurality of concurrent superframes with an update of a first field device, wherein the first field device originates respective process data within one of the communication timeslots of the second one of the plurality of concurrent superframes, and wherein a number of communication timeslots in the second one of the plurality of concurrent superframes corresponds to an update rate of the first field device;
• and
• associating, by the network manager computing device, the third one of the plurality of concurrent superframes with an update of a second field device, wherein the second field device originates respective process data within one of the communication timeslots of the third one of the plurality of concurrent superframes, and wherein a number of communication timeslots in the third one of the plurality of concurrent superframes corresponds to an update rate of the second field device;
• scheduling communications, by the network manager computing device, of each of the plurality of wireless field devices within communication timeslots associated with the plurality of concurrent superframes, the communications corresponding to transmitting and receiving respective process control data originating from each of the plurality of wireless field devices within the communication timeslots associated with the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes, and transmitting and receiving network management data within the communication timeslots associated with the first one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes;
• and
• causing, by the network manager computing device, the respective scheduled communications of the each of the plurality of wireless field devices to be transmitted via the wireless mesh communication network to the each of the plurality of wireless field devices.

A method of transferring data in a wireless mesh communication network including a plurality of wireless network devices and operating in a process control environment, the method comprising:

• electronically generating, by a network manager in electronic communication with the wireless mesh communication network, a communication schedule for the wireless mesh communication network, including defining a plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes as repeating cycles of a number of consecutively scheduled communication timeslots of a fixed duration;
• electronically generating, by the network manager, a plurality of directed graphs defining communication paths in a direction of one of toward or away from each of the plurality of network devices, wherein each directed graph includes at least one of a plurality direct connections between pairs of the plurality of network devices;
• and
• electronically assigning, by the network manager, transmission opportunities to a plurality of communication timeslots, wherein each of the plurality of communication timeslots is scheduled within one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes, wherein a first subset of the plurality of communication timeslots corresponding to the one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes is associated with a first one of the plurality of directed graphs, and wherein a second subset of the plurality of communication timeslots corresponding to the one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes is associated with a second one of the plurality of directed graphs, including:
• associating, by the network manager, a first one of the plurality of communication timeslots with transmission of process data associated with a sensing or measurement function from a first network device of the plurality of network devices to a second network device of the plurality of network devices;
• associating, by the network manager, a second one of the plurality of communication timeslots with transmission of process data associated with a positioning or actuating function from the first network device to the second network device or to a third network device of the plurality of network devices;
• and
• associating, by the network manager, a third one of the plurality of communication timeslots with transmission of network management data from the first network device to the second network device, to the third network device, or to a fourth network device of the plurality of network devices.

A method of transferring data in a wireless mesh communication network including a plurality of wireless network devices and operating in a process control environment, the method comprising:

• generating a communication schedule for the wireless mesh communication network, including:
• defining a plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes as repeating cycles of a number of consecutively scheduled communication timeslots of a fixed duration, wherein at least one of the plurality of superframes is associated with network management data and at least another one of the plurality of superframes is associated with process control data;
• using a first one of a set of commands of a wireless communication protocol to transfer network management data;
• using a second one of the set of wireless protocol commands of a communication protocol to transfer process control data;
• wherein the wireless communication protocol shares at least one layer with a respective wired communication protocol;
• generating a plurality of directed graphs defining communication paths in a direction of one of toward or away from each the plurality of network devices, wherein each directed graph includes at least one of a plurality direct connections between pairs of the plurality of network devices;
• and
• assigning transmission opportunities to a plurality of communication timeslots, wherein each of the plurality of communication timeslots is scheduled within one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes, wherein a first subset of the plurality of communication timeslots corresponding to the one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes is associated with a first one of the plurality of directed graphs, and wherein a second subset of the plurality of communication timeslots corresponding to the one of the plurality of concurrent overlapping superframes is associated with a second one of the plurality of directed graphs.