Mesh Network User Friendly Addressing via Hash Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mesh networking protocols like Bluetooth Low Energy face challenges in resource management, particularly in specifying source and destination addresses under restricted conditions, with no room for payload when security is enabled, and existing solutions either increase resources or lack user-friendliness.
Innovation Solution
A method that compresses mesh network packet components, such as MAC addresses and authentication fields, and uses a hash function to map user-friendly addresses, like 'Table Lamp in Study Room', to existing network address fields, ensuring compatibility with Bluetooth specifications and reducing resource requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If standard Bluetooth addressing is used in mesh networking, then security and routing are supported, but payload capacity is completely consumed leaving no room for user data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the addressing functionality into two parts: a compressed 2-byte address field for routing purposes and a separate user-friendly label field for identification. This segmentation allows the system to maintain security and routing capabilities while freeing up payload capacity for actual data transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using the traditional approach where full Bluetooth addresses are embedded in packets, the patent inverts the approach by using compressed addresses for routing and maintaining a separate mapping structure that translates these compressed addresses to full addresses only when needed for security verification.
2Measurement precision
If full Bluetooth addresses are used for routing, then accurate destination identification is achieved, but resource consumption increases and user-friendliness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mapping structure that acts as a bridge between user-friendly labels and technical Bluetooth addresses. This mapping table allows the system to work with compact 2-byte addresses for routing while maintaining the ability to resolve full addresses when needed, thus achieving both precision and ease of use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified copy or representation of the full Bluetooth address - a 2-byte compressed version that retains sufficient information for routing purposes. This compressed address copy is used in packet transmission to reduce overhead, while the full address is preserved in the mapping structure for when verification or resolution is needed.
3Quantity of substance
If compressed addresses are used to save resources, then payload capacity is freed, but address collision risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by establishing a comprehensive mapping structure before compressed addresses are used in communication. This mapping table is pre-populated with all the relationships between compressed addresses and full Bluetooth addresses, allowing the system to quickly resolve any ambiguity and ensuring that compressed addresses map to unique full addresses, thus preventing collisions.
Data Source
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Figure 3
AI summary
A method for operating a mesh network is described. The method includes using a protocol comprising an address and a payload, wherein the address and payload are restricted. The method also includes using a hash function to generate an address from a description, wherein the description uses ASCII characters, wherein a message uses the description as an address and wherein the description is transformed into the address using the hash function and added together with the message into the payload, assigning the generated address to a device, wherein the device is part of a mesh network, and in a transmission from a source to the device, providing the generated address within the payload.