Mesh Network PAN Switching with Backhaul Status Beacons
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Solution Overview
Problem
Nodes in mesh networks face delays when switching Personal Area Networks (PANs) due to lack of direct visibility to alternative PANs, especially when the backhaul connection becomes unavailable, causing child nodes to be unavailable until a new parent is found or the unjoining/joining process is completed.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating backhaul status information into layer 2 messages, such as beacons, to enable nodes to determine the status of the backhaul connection prior to joining a PAN and coordinate switches with child nodes, ensuring timing synchronization and maintaining parent-child relationships during PAN switching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a node switches PANs when backhaul connection becomes unavailable, then the node can maintain connectivity, but child nodes become unavailable until a new parent is found or unjoining/joining is completed
Solution Approach 1:
The parent node performs preliminary actions by identifying a candidate parent node before the backhaul connection is completely lost. The parent node pre-establishes parent-child relationships with child nodes and prepares the switching sequence, so that when switching is triggered, the actual reconnection time is minimized because the preparatory work has already been done.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous useful action by ensuring that child nodes remain associated with their parent node during the transition period. The parent node continues to forward data from child nodes even while switching PANs, and the switching process is coordinated to minimize interruption. This ensures that data collection from child nodes continues without complete interruption, reducing the effective loss of time.
2Loss of information
If a node determines backhaul status by sending upper layer messages, then the node can assess connection quality, but the node cannot determine status prior to joining PAN
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces beacons as an intermediary mechanism that carries backhaul status information from the root node to all other nodes in the PAN. Instead of requiring each node to send upper layer messages to determine backhaul status, nodes passively receive this information through beacons, which eliminates the need for active querying and allows status determination without additional message exchanges.
3Stability of the object's composition
If PAN architecture uses hysteresis to prevent thrashing, then network stability is improved, but nodes cannot tolerate temporary loss of backhaul connection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the PAN switching behavior dynamic by introducing a configurable tolerance parameter. Nodes can adapt their switching behavior based on their specific requirements - some nodes may tolerate temporary backhaul loss and wait for hysteresis to prevent thrashing, while critical nodes can be configured to switch immediately. This dynamic configuration allows the network to balance stability and adaptability based on individual node needs.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods for managing nodes in mesh networks are provided. A parent node may switch PANs and coordinate the switch with its child nodes. The parent node and its child nodes may maintain timing synchronization information for a current PAN and a new PAN. The parent node and its child nodes may switch to the new PAN using the same switching time.