Low Latency Backbone in Wireless Mesh Networks

The patent segments the mesh network into two distinct parts: a backbone network consisting of powered nodes and access networks consisting of battery-powered nodes connected to backbone nodes. This segmentation allows the backbone to handle high-traffic routing independently, preventing battery-powered nodes from becoming traffic bottlenecks, while maintaining simple connection rules for battery-powered nodes to join the network by connecting to any backbone node within range.

The patent introduces powered backbone nodes as intermediary entities that mediate between battery-powered access nodes and the rest of the network. These backbone nodes absorb the traffic routing burden, allowing battery-powered nodes to communicate without handling substantial traffic themselves, thus improving their performance and reducing latency while maintaining ease of network formation.

The patent divides the network functions such that powered backbone nodes handle traffic routing while battery-powered access nodes handle only local communication. This segmentation allows flexible deployment of battery-powered nodes anywhere within backbone coverage areas without requiring them to perform power-intensive routing functions, thereby maintaining deployment flexibility while reducing power consumption.

Powered backbone nodes serve as intermediaries that absorb the power-intensive traffic routing tasks. Battery-powered nodes can be deployed flexibly throughout the coverage area knowing that the backbone will handle all routing operations, thus maintaining adaptability while significantly reducing the power consumption and extending the operational duration of battery-powered nodes.

The patent segments the network into a permanent backbone infrastructure and transient access connections. The backbone provides stable, optimized routing paths between gateway nodes, while battery-powered nodes simply connect to the nearest backbone node. This segmentation maintains simple network setup procedures while reducing latency because packets travel through optimized backbone paths rather than being routed through multiple battery-powered nodes.

The backbone network acts as an intermediary layer that provides low-latency paths between gateways. Battery-powered nodes connect to this intermediary backbone infrastructure, which handles all long-distance packet transmission through optimized routes. This maintains simple connection rules for battery-powered nodes while significantly reducing overall packet transmission latency compared to random peer-to-peer connections.