Low power sensor node operation for wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11202242-B2
Application number	US-201615160502-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2016
Priority date	May 22, 2015
Publication date	Dec 14, 2021
Grant date	Dec 14, 2021

Abstract

A wireless mesh network system includes network nodes that operate in blink and canopy modes of operation. In operation, a network manager joins nodes operating in the canopy node to the network and allocates network bandwidth to the canopy nodes. The allocated bandwidth includes a first bandwidth allocated for transmitting and receiving data packets between canopy nodes that are joined to the network, and a second bandwidth allocation for receiving network joining messages from nodes that are not joined to the network. The second bandwidth allocation is also used for receiving data messages from nodes operating in the blink mode. Thus, in response to receiving a message that was transmitted from a blink node to a canopy node using the second bandwidth allocation, the network manager identifies the message as a data message and provides the data from the message to a host application.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A network manager for managing communications between a plurality of network nodes in a wireless mesh network, the network manager comprising:
a communication interface for communication with the plurality of network nodes; and
a processor configured to execute application programs stored in memory to perform functions to:
allocate, to each of a first subset of the plurality of network nodes joined to the wireless mesh network, a first bandwidth allocation for data communication among the first subset within the wireless mesh network and a second bandwidth allocation, different than the first bandwidth allocation, for receiving network messages from respective network nodes of a second subset of the plurality of network nodes not joined to the wireless mesh network;
determine a message is transmitted from a first network node of the second subset to a second network node of the first subset using bandwidth of the second bandwidth allocation, the first network node of the second subset operating in a low power mode without a network address and without a bandwidth allocation for the wireless mesh network;
in response to the determining, identify the message as a sensor data message that includes sensor data from a sensor of the first network node of the second subset and provide the sensor data of the sensor data message from the second node of the first subset to a host application; and
upon receiving another message transmitted from another network node of the second subset to a network node of the first subset using bandwidth of the second bandwidth allocation, identify the received message as a network joining message and join the other network node having transmitted the network joining message to the wireless mesh network.

2. The network manager of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the network manager to perform functions to:
join the other node to the wireless mesh network by allocating bandwidth of the wireless mesh network to the other network node, including a bandwidth allocation for receiving and transmitting data packets along communication links of the wireless mesh network between the other network node and nodes of the first subset, and a bandwidth allocation for receiving network joining messages in the other network node from network nodes of the second subset.

3. The network manager of claim 1 , wherein the bandwidth comprises combinations of timeslots and communication channels allocated to each network node of the first subset of network nodes including, for each respective network node of the first subset, a first combination of timeslots and channels for receiving and transmitting data packets between the respective network node and other network nodes of the first subset, and a second combination of at least one timeslot and at least one channel for receiving network joining messages in the respective network node from network nodes of the second subset.

4. The network manager of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to identify each received message transmitted to the first subset of network nodes using bandwidth of the second bandwidth allocation as a data message or as a network joining message based on a flag included in the received message.

5. The network manager of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the network manager to perform a further function to:
upon receiving a packet data message generated in a network node of the first subset and transmitted through the wireless mesh network using bandwidth of the first bandwidth allocation, provide data from the packet data message to the host application.

6. A mesh network system comprising:
the network manager of claim 1 ; and
the plurality of network nodes in wireless communication with each other and including the first subset of network nodes joined to the wireless mesh network and the second subset of network nodes not joined to the wireless mesh network,
wherein each respective network node of the first subset is configured to perform functions to:
listen for packets transmitted from other nodes of the first subset to the respective network node, and transmit packets to other nodes of the first subset, during timeslots and on channels associated with the first bandwidth allocation; and
listen for packets transmitted from nodes of the second subset to the respective network node during timeslots and on channels associated with the second bandwidth allocation.

7. The mesh network system of claim 6 , wherein each respective network node of the first subset is configured to perform further functions to:
receive sensing data from a sensor associated with the respective network node; and
generate data packets including the received sensing data, and transmit the generated data packets to other nodes of the first subset during timeslots and on channels associated with the first bandwidth allocation.

8. The mesh network system of claim 6 , wherein each respective network node of the first subset is configured to perform further functions to:
receive a packet transmitted from a node of the second subset to the respective network node during a timeslot and on a channel associated with the second bandwidth allocation; and
transmit the packet received from the node of the second subset to another node of the first subset during a timeslot and on a channel associated with the first bandwidth allocation.

9. A mesh network system comprising:
the network manager of claim 1 ; and
the plurality of network nodes in wireless communication with each other and including the first subset of network nodes joined to the wireless mesh network and the second subset of network nodes not joined to the wireless mesh network,
wherein each respective network node of the second subset is configured to perform functions to:
generate a data packet;
listen for network advertisements transmitted from nodes of the first subset; and
upon receiving a network advertisement from one node of the first subset, transmit the generated data packet to the one node during a timeslot and using a channel of the second bandwidth allocation of the one node.

10. The mesh network system of claim 9 , wherein each respective network node of the second subset is configured to:
listen for network advertisements transmitted from nodes of the first subset during a predetermined amount of time,
select one node from among nodes of the first subset from which network advertisements are received during the predetermined amount of time; and
transmit the generated data packet to the selected one node during the timeslot and using the channel of the second bandwidth allocation of the selected one node.

11. The mesh network system of claim 10 , wherein the generated data packet includes sensor data and a list of nodes of the first subset from which network advertisements were received during the predetermined amount of time.

12. The mesh network system of claim 9 , wherein each respective network node of the second subset is configured to perform a further function to:
upon receiving the network advertisement from the one node of the first subset, determine whether the network advertisement has a signal strength exceeding a predetermined threshold,
wherein the generated data packet is transmitted to the one node during the timeslot and using the channel of the second bandwidth allocation of the one node only upon determining that the network advertisement has the signal strength exceeding the predetermined threshold.

13. The mesh network system of claim 9 , wherein each respective network node of the second subset is configured

Assignees

• Analog Devices International Unlimited Co

Inventors

• Levesque Alain Pierre
• Doherty Lance Robert
• Simon Jonathan Noah

Classifications

• H04W40/12

  based on transmission quality or channel quality · CPC title

• H04W84/18

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

• H04W40/02 Primary

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

• H04W72/044

  based on the type of the allocated resource · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title