Cloud Controller Network Synchronization for Directional Antenna Mesh
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network synchronization methods in mesh networks face challenges in efficiently synchronizing nodes with directional antennas, particularly in maintaining accurate timestamp synchronization across the network, especially when new nodes are added or when communication is disrupted.
Innovation Solution
A cloud controller manages network topology data to select a primary node, generate instructions for timestamp synchronization, and steer directional antennas to ensure all nodes in the network are synchronized, allowing for scalable management and reconnection of nodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If nodes use directional antennas for wireless communication in a mesh network, then communication reliability and data transmission efficiency are improved, but synchronization difficulty and network management complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cloud controller as an intermediary that manages timestamp synchronization for all nodes in the mesh network. The cloud controller receives timestamps from nodes, determines synchronization status, and coordinates synchronization actions, thereby reducing the management complexity that would otherwise arise from direct node-to-node synchronization in a directional antenna environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where nodes periodically send their timestamps to the cloud controller, which then determines whether nodes are synchronized and instructs them to synchronize if needed. This closed-loop feedback system maintains synchronization reliability while automating the management process, reducing the burden on individual nodes.
2Reliability
If nodes synchronize timestamps through multi-hop communication in the network, then synchronization coverage is improved, but synchronization time and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cloud controller proactively monitors node timestamps and determines synchronization status before actual synchronization is needed. When a node is found to be out of sync, the controller immediately initiates synchronization instructions, preventing synchronization delays from accumulating and reducing overall network synchronization time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the synchronization process into distinct phases: timestamp collection by nodes, centralized analysis by the cloud controller, and targeted synchronization instructions. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple node timestamps simultaneously, reducing total synchronization time compared to sequential node-by-node synchronization.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the network topology changes frequently with node addition or removal, then network adaptability is improved, but synchronization stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
When new nodes are added to the network, they automatically send their timestamps to the cloud controller and receive synchronization instructions without manual intervention. The cloud controller automatically detects the new node, determines its synchronization status, and provides appropriate instructions, allowing the network to self-adapt to topology changes while maintaining synchronization stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cloud controller continuously receives timestamp feedback from all nodes, including newly added ones, and dynamically adjusts synchronization instructions based on current network conditions. This ongoing feedback loop ensures that synchronization stability is maintained even as the network topology evolves, as the controller can identify and correct drift in newly joined nodes.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for maintaining, by a cloud controller, data representing a topology of a network of nodes; receiving, at the cloud controller from the first group of nodes, one or more requests to connect to the network; selecting, by the cloud controller, a first node in the first group of nodes that sent the request; and generating, by the cloud controller, instructions configured to cause the first node to communicate a timestamp of the first node to each neighboring node of the first node and to cause each neighboring node to communicate the timestamp of the first node to each other neighboring nodes of the neighboring node; and sending the instructions to the first node, thereby synchronizing the nodes in the network to the timestamp of the first node.