Bluetooth low energy automation mesh network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10111071-B2
Application number	US-201514857781-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2015
Priority date	Sep 19, 2014
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

A system for facilitating communications in a mesh network is provided. One or more devices of the mesh network may participate as routing nodes to provide range extension for any other devices in the mesh network that would otherwise be out of range from one another. In one or more implementations, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) may be used as the physical transport of the mesh network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A first device of a mesh network, the first device comprising: at least one processor circuit configured to: receive a mesh packet comprising a first identifier associated with a second device of the mesh network, the mesh packet being received from a third device that is separate from the second device, and the first device having been selected by the second device to operate as a proxy device for the second device; responsive to receipt of the mesh packet from the third device, add the first identifier associated with the second device to a white list; receive a first query packet from the second device after receiving the mesh packet, wherein the first query packet comprises the first identifier associated with the second device and a second identifier associated with the first device, and the first query packet is received independent of receiving the mesh packet; provide the mesh packet for transmission to the second device when the first query packet is received when the first identifier of the second device is included on the white list, and otherwise ignore the first query packet when the first identifier of the second device is not included on the white list; and remove the first identifier of the second device from the white list of the first device when the first device receives an acknowledgement of receipt of the mesh packet from the second device, and no additional mesh packets are awaiting transmission from the first device to the second device.

2. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
determine whether the first device received a plurality of mesh packets to transmit to the second device, wherein the plurality of mesh packets comprises the mesh packet; and
set a flag in the mesh packet to a first predetermined value when the first device received the plurality of mesh packets to transmit to the second device, otherwise set the flag in the mesh packet to a second predetermined value when the first device only received the mesh packet to transmit to the second device.

3. The first device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to: receive a second query packet from the second device when the flag in the mesh packet is set to the first predetermined value, wherein the second query packet comprises the acknowledgement of the mesh packet; and provide another mesh packet of the plurality of mesh packets for transmission to the second device when the second query packet is received.

4. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to store the mesh packet in a buffer until the acknowledgement of receipt of the mesh packet has been received from the second device.

5. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the mesh packet comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link layer packet.

6. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
receive a second query packet from the second device, wherein the second query packet comprises a third identifier different from the first identifier and the second identifier;
transmit a first response packet to the second device, wherein the first response packet comprises a power value associated with the second query packet; and
receive a third query packet from the second device, wherein the third query packet comprises the second identifier.

7. The first device of claim 6 , wherein the second query packet is received prior to the first query packet.

8. The first device of claim 6 , wherein the second query packet comprises a flag set to a value indicative of the second device being associated with lower receiver duty cycle than the first device.

9. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the mesh packet is associated with a security mechanism.

10. A method comprising: receiving, by a first device of a mesh network, a mesh packet comprising a first identifier associated with a second device of the mesh network, the mesh packet being received from a third device that is separate from the second device, and the first device having been selected by the second device to operate as a proxy device for the second device; responsive to receiving the mesh packet from the third device, adding the first identifier associated with the second device to a white list; receiving a first query packet from the second device after receiving the mesh packet, wherein the first query packet comprises the first identifier associated with the second device and a second identifier associated with the first device, and the first query packet is received independent of receiving the mesh packet; providing the mesh packet for transmission to the second device when the first query packet is received when the first identifier of the second device is included on the white list, and otherwise ignoring the first query packet when the first identifier of the second device is not included on the white list; and when no additional mesh packets are awaiting transmission to the second device, removing the first identifier of the second device from the white list responsive to receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second device with respect to the mesh packet.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: determining whether the first device received a plurality of mesh packets to transmit to the second device, wherein the plurality of mesh packets comprises the mesh packet; and setting a flag in the mesh packet to a first predetermined value when the first device received the plurality of mesh packets to transmit to the second device, otherwise setting the flag in the mesh packet to a second predetermined value when the first device only received the mesh packet to transmit to the second device.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: receiving a second query packet from the second device when the flag in the mesh packet is set to the first predetermined value, wherein the second query packet comprises the acknowledgement packet for the mesh packet; and providing another mesh packet of the plurality of mesh packets for transmission to the second device when the second query packet is received.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: storing the mesh packet in a buffer until the acknowledgement packet for the mesh packet has been received from the second device.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the mesh packet comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link layer packet.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: receiving a second query packet from the second device, wherein the second query packet comprises a third identifier different from the first identifier and the second identifier; transmitting a first response packet to the second device, wherein the first response packet comprises a power value associated with the second query packet; and receiving a third query packet from the second device, wherein the third query packet comprises the second identifier.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second query packet is received prior to the first query packet.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second query packet comprises a flag set to a value indicative of the second device being associated with lower receiver duty cycle than the first device.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the mesh packet is associated with a security mechanism.

19. A computer program product comprising instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions comprising:
instructio

Assignees

• Broadcom Corp
• Avago Technologies General Ip

Inventors

• Polo Angel
• Xie Guoxin
• Hsu David
• Muneer Khan M
• Tian Xin
• Yu Wenbin
• Zhodzishsky Victor G

Classifications

• H04W40/02

  Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing · CPC title

• H04W4/80 Primary

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04W40/24 Primary

  Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update · CPC title

• H04W88/04

  adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user · CPC title