Wireless Gateway Dynamic Polling for Latency Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless control networks face bandwidth limitations and high latency due to saturation from status messages and polling requests, which impede control messages and result in a poor user experience.
Innovation Solution
A network controller dynamically adjusts the status report messaging level based on the presence of an active user interface, prioritizing control messages over status messages by polling nodes at varying rates, and performing firmware updates when no active interface is detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the controller polls nodes frequently to maintain accurate network state, then the network state accuracy is improved, but the network bandwidth is saturated and control message latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the polling rate adjustable and variable over time. The controller dynamically changes the polling frequency based on whether a user interface is active, transitioning between a first polling rate when UI is active and a second polling rate when UI is inactive, optimizing the balance between state accuracy and latency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of polling rate based on system conditions. When a user interface becomes active, the controller switches to a higher polling rate to maintain state accuracy; when UI is inactive, it reduces the polling rate to minimize bandwidth consumption and latency
2Loss of time
If the controller maintains high polling rate to reduce latency, then control message delivery speed is improved, but power consumption of battery-powered devices increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the polling rate based on user interface activity. When no UI is active, the controller reduces the polling rate to conserve battery power on remote devices. When UI becomes active, the rate increases to ensure low latency for control operations
Solution Approach 2:
The polling rate parameter is changed based on system state (UI active/inactive). This allows the system to optimize power consumption during idle periods while maintaining low latency when users are actively controlling devices
3Loss of information
If status messages are sent at high frequency to keep network state accurate, then state update accuracy is improved, but control messages experience increased latency
Solution Approach 1:
The messaging frequency is made dynamic rather than fixed. The controller adjusts status message frequency based on UI activity, sending frequent updates when UI is active and reducing frequency when UI is inactive, thereby preventing bandwidth saturation while maintaining state accuracy when needed
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a gateway includes: a radio circuit having a plurality of wireless protocol circuits, each to communicate wirelessly with one or more nodes present in a wireless network; an interface circuit to couple to one or more cloud-based devices via another network; and a controller coupled to the interface circuit. The controller may include a control circuit to control the wireless network, where in response to detection of an active user interface for the wireless network, the control circuit may dynamically update a status report messaging level of at least some of a plurality of nodes present in the wireless network.