Flood Fill Mesh Network Synchronization and Guard Band
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Flood fill mesh networks face issues such as message path duplication, message replication, and resource overloading due to their reliance on broadcast messages without addressing schemes or routing protocols, leading to bandwidth and resource inefficiencies, particularly in dynamic environments where nodes are mobile.
Innovation Solution
An improved flood fill mesh network implementation that uses broadcast messages for communication among nodes, with coordinated synchronization across nodes through synchronization frames and a guard band to account for clock drift, allowing nodes to adjust their timing and reduce power consumption by sleeping for most of the cycle, thereby minimizing resource and power usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If broadcast messages are used for communication without addressing schemes or routing protocols, then network adaptability and dynamic topology support are improved, but message path duplication and resource overloading occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-assigning unique identifiers to network nodes before communication begins. This allows nodes to be identified and addressed uniquely from the start, preventing message path duplication while maintaining network adaptability. The unique identifiers are established in advance through a setup phase where nodes exchange information and register their identities with neighboring nodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the broadcast message into multiple types: data messages, control messages, and acknowledgment messages. Each message type serves a specific function and includes appropriate addressing information. This segmentation allows the system to maintain the simplicity of broadcast communication while preventing unnecessary message replication through proper message routing and acknowledgment mechanisms.
2Reliability
If deterministic routing protocols are used to ensure messages reach destination, then message delivery reliability is improved, but network reconfiguration time and power consumption increase in dynamic environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by allowing the network topology to change continuously without requiring full reconfiguration. Nodes maintain unique identifiers and can join or leave the network dynamically. When topology changes occur, nodes simply update their neighbor lists and continue communication using existing addressing schemes, eliminating the need for time-consuming reconfiguration processes while maintaining reliable message delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies self-service by enabling nodes to autonomously manage their own identification and routing information. Each node maintains its unique identifier and independently updates its routing table based on current network conditions. This self-managed approach allows the network to adapt to topology changes without centralized control or extensive reconfiguration, reducing both time and power consumption while maintaining reliable delivery.
3Ease of operation
If each communication channel is configured one-to-one, then communication simplicity is improved, but resource consumption and power usage increase due to multiple separate transmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple one-to-one communication channels into a single broadcast channel. Instead of establishing separate point-to-point connections between nodes, all nodes communicate through a shared broadcast medium. Each message includes the destination node's unique identifier, allowing the receiving node to process only relevant messages. This merging approach maintains communication simplicity while significantly reducing the number of separate transmissions required, thereby lowering power consumption and resource usage.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an improved implementation of a flood fill mesh network that utilizes low power and does not require any network addressing or routing protocol for network message delivery. Network messages are only communicated to a network node's correspondents using broadcast network messages over a wireless network. Network messages propagate throughout the network based on each correspondent node rebroadcasting received messages to its correspondent nodes, and so on. Coordinated synchronization across network nodes can be achieved by each network node broadcasting synchronization frames to its correspondents within a synchronization window time period and thereafter adjusting its own start time for the next synchronization period to converge synchronization. A guard band may also be utilized to account for any clock drift and signal path delays between any two communicating network nodes.