Update management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9754096-B2
Application number	US-201414505443-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2014
Priority date	Feb 25, 2014
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

A method for providing an update package to a node in a mesh network comprising a set of nodes and a gateway node arranged to provide access to an update server via a second network. The gateway node collects package information from each set node, including a first node. Each package identifies a respective node and its package version. The gateway node may query the update server based on the package information. The update server may respond to the gateway node with an updated package for the first node. The gateway node broadcasts the updated package into the mesh network as a sequence of mesh messages. Each of a first plurality of nodes of the set may forward the mesh messages to other nodes. The first node stores the mesh messages so as the sequence of mesh messages is received, assemble the updated package.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing an update package to a node in a mesh network comprising a set of nodes and a gateway node arranged to provide access to an update server via a second network, the method comprising:
receiving a data package information instance from each node of the set of nodes, each data package information instance identifying its respective node and a data package version of its respective node;
querying, using each data package information instance, the update server;
receiving an updated data package corresponding to the data package information instance in response to the query; and
broadcasting the updated data package into the mesh network as a sequence of mesh messages, each mesh message in the sequence carrying an identifier of its respective node, the sequence of mesh messages broadcast at a rate that is based at least in part on a total memory available from the set of nodes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
periodically broadcasting each sequence of mesh messages into the mesh network, each broadcast occurring over a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time is based on the total memory available from the set of nodes.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
broadcasting an information request into the mesh network to obtain the data package information instance from each of the one or more nodes.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving each data package information instance as an unsolicited broadcast by each of the one or more nodes into the mesh network.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a first plurality of nodes of the set of a same type, wherein each data package information instance indicates a type of its respective node;
defining a first group identifier for that first plurality of nodes; and
broadcasting the first group identifier into the mesh network such that each of the first plurality of nodes becomes associated with the first group identifier.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein each sequence of mesh messages represents an updated data package, and one or more of the sequences of mesh messages includes the first group identifier as the identifier of its respective node.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , the gateway node broadcasting the sequence of mesh messages into the mesh network at a rate calculated in dependence on:
an amount of storage available in the mesh network for caching mesh messages; and
a first time period for which each mesh message is to persist in the network.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , the updated data package comprising one or more of firmware for one or more nodes, configuration information for the one or more nodes, operating parameters for one or more nodes, a dataset for use at one or more nodes, and code for execution at one or more nodes.

9. A system for providing an update package to a node in a mesh network, the system comprising:
a set of nodes of the mesh network, the set including a gateway node and a first plurality of nodes, the first plurality of nodes including at least a first node;
the gateway node being operable to communicate over a second network and to collect data package information from each node of the set of nodes, each data package information instance identifying a respective node and its data package version; and
an update server accessible over the second network;
the gateway node being configured to:
using the data package information, query the update server via the second network so as to cause the update server to respond to the gateway node with an updated data package for the first node; and
broadcast the updated data package into the mesh network as a sequence of mesh messages carrying an identifier of the first node, the sequence of mesh messages broadcast at a rate that is based at least in part on a total memory available from the set of nodes;

and on receiving a mesh message of the sequence of mesh messages:
each of the first plurality of nodes is to schedule one or more operations to forward the mesh message to other nodes of the set of nodes; and
the first node is to store the mesh message so as to, as the sequence of mesh messages is received, assemble the updated data package.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the mesh messages in the sequence of mesh messages are forwarded from each node in the set of nodes to one or more other nodes of the set of nodes based at least in part on respective identifiers of the mesh messages.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of nodes of the set, on receiving a mesh message of the sequence of mesh messages, does not transmit a message to the gateway node acknowledging receipt of the mesh message.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first node, after assembling the updated data package, enters an update mode, and applies the updated data package.

13. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a second plurality of nodes of the set of nodes, the second plurality of nodes configured to cache mesh messages of the sequence of mesh messages; and
wherein in response to a node in the set of nodes broadcasting a missing message request into the mesh network, one of the second plurality of nodes is to respond with a cached copy of a missing mesh message corresponding to the missing message request.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein each mesh message includes a first parameter representing a first time period for which that mesh message is to persist in the mesh network; and
wherein each node in the second plurality of nodes is to discard a mesh message from its cache when the first time period has elapsed for that mesh message.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first parameter indicates one or more of: a time when the respective message expires; a period of time measured from a timestamp of the respective message; and a remaining period of time for which the respective message is to persist from its time of reception at a node.

16. A gateway node for providing an update package to a node in a mesh network, and providing access to an update server via a second network, the mesh network comprising a set of nodes and the gateway node, the gateway node configured to:
receive a data package information instance from each node of the set of nodes, each data package information instance identifying its respective node and a data package version of its respective node;
query the update server using each data package information instance;
receive an updated data package corresponding to the data package information instance in response to the query; and
broadcast the received updated package into the mesh network as a sequence of mesh messages, each mesh message in the sequence carrying an identifier of its respective node, the sequence of mesh message broadcast at a rate that is based at least in part on a total memory available from the set of nodes.

Assignees

• Qualcomm Technologies Int Ltd

Inventors

• Scagnol Mauro
• Miocinovic Srdjan
• Borghei Hooman
• Boscovic Dragan
• Ahmadi Hamid
• Graube Nicolas Guy Albert
• Heydon Robin
• Jones Nicholas John
• Thomson Clive

Classifications

• H04L9/0861

  Generation of secret information including derivation or calculation of cryptographic keys or passwords · CPC title

• H04W24/06

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using simulated traffic · CPC title

• G06Q10/0833

  Tracking · CPC title

• H04L41/082

  the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality · CPC title

• H04W84/18

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