Two-hop wireless network communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11064418-B2
Application number	US-201916564894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2019
Priority date	Sep 9, 2019
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

A system and method for providing multiple modes of communication in wireless networks includes a network manager and a plurality of network nodes. The plurality of network nodes form a wireless network with the network manager and are configured to communicate data to the network manager using respective communication links having a first bandwidth. The plurality of network nodes are further configured to transition to a two-hop mode of communication upon one or more failures in communication to the network manager. While in the two-hop mode of communication, a respective network node of the plurality of nodes is configured to transmit node data to at least one other network node over a communication link having a second bandwidth different than the first bandwidth. The other network nodes are configured to listen for communication from the respective network node and re-transmit to the network manager the node data received from the respective network node.

First claim

The claimed invention is:

1. A method of providing multiple modes of communication in wireless networks, the method comprising:
communicating data from a respective network node of a plurality of network nodes to a network manager using a respective communication link having a first bandwidth and according to first specified communication slots of a communication schedule for a wireless network, the plurality of network nodes and the network manager forming the wireless network;
transitioning to a two-hop mode of communication for the respective network node of the plurality of nodes, wherein other network nodes amongst the plurality of network nodes are configured to listen for communication from the respective network node; and
transmitting node data, during second specified communication slots of the communication schedule for the wireless network different than the first specified communication slots, from the respective network node to at least one of the other network nodes over a communication link having a second bandwidth different than the first bandwidth for retransmission of the node data to the network manager by the at least one of the other network nodes, wherein the first specified communication slots are designated for direct communication and the second specified communication slots are designated for two-hop communication.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transitioning to the two-hop mode of communication for the respective network node comprises:
attempting to transmit the node data to the network manager from the respective network node over a direct communication link during the first specified communication slots of the communication schedule; and
determining that the node data was not transmitted successfully to the network manager from the respective network node using the direct communication link during the first specified communication slots.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining that the node data was not transmitted successfully to the network manager from the respective network node comprises determining that a count of failed attempts to transmit the node data to the network manager over the direct communication link exceeded a specified threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
attempting, while in the two-hop mode, to transmit the node data to the network manager over direct communication links between respective network nodes and the network manager during third specified timeslots of the communication schedule; and
transitioning out of the two-hop mode if the node data is received by the network manager successfully for a first specified count of attempts.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
rejoining, by the network manager, the respective network node to the wireless network if the node data fails to reach the network manager or the other network nodes after a second specified count of attempts.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless network is a vehicle wireless battery monitoring system and wherein the network nodes are configured to measure one or more parameters of a battery of a vehicle, the method further comprising:
sensing, by the respecting network node, the one or more parameters of the battery, wherein the node data includes the one or more parameters.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication schedule is a time synchronized channel hopping (TSCH) schedule, and wherein communicating the data from the plurality of network nodes to the network manager comprises communicating the data from the plurality of network nodes to the network manager during respective time slots of the TSCH schedule.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein transmitting the node data from the respective network node to the at least one of the plurality of network nodes comprises transmitting the node data to specified ones of the plurality of network nodes during specified time slots of the TSCH schedule.

9. A system for providing multiple modes of communication in wireless networks, the system comprising:
a network manager;
a plurality of network nodes forming a wireless network with the network manager, wherein the plurality of wireless nodes are configured to communicate data to the network manager using respective communication links having a first bandwidth and according to first specified communication slots of a communication schedule for a wireless network;
wherein the plurality of network nodes are further configured to transition to a two-hop mode of communication upon one or more failures in communication to the network manager; and
wherein while in the two-hop mode of communication, a respective network node of the plurality of nodes is configured to transmit node data, during second specified communication slots of the communication schedule for the wireless network different than the first specified communication slots, to at least one of other respective network nodes of the plurality of network nodes over a communication link having a second bandwidth different than the first bandwidth; and
wherein the first specified communication slots are designated for direct communication and the second specified communication slots are designated for two-hop communication; and
wherein the other respective network nodes are configured to listen for communication from the respective network node and re-transmit to the network manager the node data received from the respective network node.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the respective network node is configured to attempt to transmit the node data to the network manager over a direct communication link and transition to the two-hop mode upon determining that the node data was not transmitted successfully to the network manager using the direct communication link.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the respective network node is configured to determine that the node data was not transmitted successfully to the network manager using the direct communication link by determining that a count of failed attempts to transmit the node data to the network manager over the direct communication link has exceeded a specified threshold.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the respective network node is further configured to attempt, while in the two-hop mode, to transmit the node data to the network manager over a direct communication link between the respective network node and the network manager, and transition out of the two-hop mode if the node data is received by the network manager successfully for a first specified count of attempts.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the respective network node is configured to rejoin the wireless network if the node data fails to reach the network manager or the other respective network nodes after a second specified count of attempts.

14. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a vehicle battery, wherein the wireless network is a vehicle wireless battery monitoring system and wherein the network nodes are configured to measure one or more parameters of the vehicle battery, and wherein the respective network node is configured to sense the one or more parameters of the battery, and wherein the node data includes the one or more parameters.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the communication schedule is a time synchronized channel hopping (TSCH) schedule.

16. A system comprising:
means for communicating data from a plurality of network nodes to a network manager using respective communication links having a first bandwidth and according to first specified communication slots of a communication schedule for a wireless networ

Assignees

• Analog Devices International Unlimited Co

Inventors

• Doherty Lance Robert
• Simon Jonathan Noah
• Lushin Aleksandr
• Aquilano Gina

Classifications

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04B1/713

  using frequency hopping · CPC title

• H04L45/16

  Multipoint routing · CPC title

• H04W88/04

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

• H04B7/208 Primary

  Frequency-division multiple access {[FDMA]} · CPC title