Utilizing remote storage for network formation in iot networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016149805-A1
Application number	US-201414551221-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 24, 2014
Priority date	Nov 24, 2014
Publication date	May 26, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In one embodiment, a device that is protected against a power outage event in a network receives metrics used by a first node in the network to select a routing link to a second node in the network. The device stores the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node. The device selects a set of one or more of the metrics to provide to the first node during network formation after a power outage event in the network. The device provides the selected set of one or more of the metrics to the first node, wherein the first node uses the provided set to reestablish connectivity to the network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving, at a device that is protected against a power outage event in a network, metrics used by a first node in the network to select a routing link to a second node in the network; storing, at the device, the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node; selecting, by the device, a set of one or more of the metrics to provide to the first node during network formation after the power outage event in the network; and providing, by the device, the selected set of one or more of the metrics to the first node, wherein the first node uses the provided set to reestablish connectivity to the network.

2 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node comprise an expected transmission count (ETX) associated with the second node or an average of a metric associated with the routing link over a period of time.

3 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more of the metrics provided to the first node comprise data indicative of one or more adjacent nodes of the first node, wherein the first node uses the set to cause the one or more adjacent nodes to reestablish routing links between the one or more adjacent nodes and the first node.

4 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more of the metrics provided to the first node is a subset of the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node.

5 . The method as in claim 4 , wherein the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node are associated with a plurality of neighboring nodes of the first node, and wherein the subset of the metric provided by the device to the first node are associated with only a subset of the plurality of neighboring nodes of the first node.

6 . The method as in claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving, at the device, a request from the first node for metrics regarding one or more additional neighboring nodes that were not in the subset of the plurality of neighboring nodes; and providing, by the device, the metrics regarding the one or more additional neighboring nodes to the first node.

7 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the device, that a degree of variation in a particular metric received from the first node over time exceeds a threshold amount; and preventing, by the device, the particular metric from being provided to the first node after the power outage event, in response to determining that the degree of variation in the particular metric exceeds the threshold amount.

8 . The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, by the device, a notification to the first node that indicates that the device is protected against power outage events.

9 . The method as in claim 1 , wherein the first node does not have a persistent memory operable to store the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node.

10 . A method comprising:
determining, by a first node in a network, metrics regarding one or more neighbor nodes of the first node and used by the first node to select a routing link to one of the neighbor nodes; providing, by the first node, the metrics to a network device that is protected against a power outage event in the network; requesting, by the first node, the metrics from the network device, after the power outage event in the network; receiving, at the first node, at least a portion of the metrics from the network device; and reestablishing, by the first node, the routing link based on the at least a portion of the metrics received from the network device.

11 . The method as in claim 10 , wherein the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link comprise an expected transmission count (ETX) metric or an average of a metric associated with the routing link over a period of time.

12 . The method as in claim 10 , wherein the metrics are provided to the network device in response to receiving a notification from the network device that the network device is protected against power outage events, and wherein the first node does not have a persistent memory operable to store the metrics.

13 . The method as in claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, at the first node after the power outage event, data from the network device that is indicative of one or more adjacent nodes of the first node; and causing, by the first node, the one or more adjacent nodes to reestablish routing links between the adjacent nodes and the first node, in response to receiving the data from the network device that is indicative of the one or more adjacent nodes of the first node.

14 . An apparatus, comprising:
one or more network interfaces to communicate with a network; a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute a process; and a memory configured to store the process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to:
receive metrics used by a first node in the network to select a routing link to a second node in the network;
store, in the memory, the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node;
select a set of one or more of the metrics to provide to the first node during network formation after a power outage event in the network; and
provide the selected set of one or more of the parameters to the first node, wherein the first node uses the provided set to reestablish connectivity to the network.

15 . The apparatus as in claim 14 , wherein the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node comprise an expected transmission count (ETX) metric associated with the second node or an average of a metric associated with the routing link over a period of time.

16 . The apparatus as in claim 14 , wherein the set of one or more of the metrics provided to the first node comprise data indicative of one or more adjacent nodes of the first node, wherein the one or more adjacent nodes use the set to establish routing links to the first node after the power outage event in the network.

17 . The apparatus as in claim 14 , wherein the set of one or more of the metrics provided to the first node is a subset of the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node.

18 . The apparatus as in claim 17 , wherein the metrics used by the first node to select the routing link to the second node are associated with a plurality of neighboring nodes of the first node, and wherein the subset of the metric provided by the device to the first node are associated with only a subset of the plurality of neighboring nodes of the first node.

19 . The apparatus as in claim 18 , wherein the process when executed is further operable to:
receive a request from the first node for metrics regarding one or more additional neighboring nodes that were not in the subset of the plurality of neighboring nodes; and provide the metrics regarding the one or more additional neighboring nodes to the first node.

20 . The apparatus as in claim 14 , wherein the process when executed is further operable to:
determine that a degree of variation in a particular metric received from the first node over time exceeds a threshold amount; and prevent the particular metric from being provided to the first node after the power outage event, in response to determining that the degree of variation in the particular metric

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Hui Jonathan
• Vasseur Jean-Philippe
• Hong Wei

Classifications

• H04L45/28 Primary

  using route fault recovery · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W40/125

  using a measured number of retransmissions as a link metric · CPC title