Neighbor Table Management for Wireless Routing Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
In dense wireless communication networks, such as those in modern lighting systems, resource-constrained communication apparatuses face challenges in managing neighbor tables efficiently, leading to suboptimal routing and increased interference due to limited memory and the need to store all nearby nodes, which results in higher hop counts and packet loss.
Innovation Solution
A method for managing neighbor tables by prioritizing communication partners based on link quality and message interactions, where communication partners are defined by message involvement or configuration, allowing for optimized routing with reduced forwarding and interference by preferentially maintaining entries for nodes with higher link quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the neighbor table stores all neighboring nodes within transmission range, then complete network topology information is available, but memory resources are exhausted and routing efficiency decreases due to excessive hop counts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential neighboring nodes (communication partners) from the complete set of neighboring nodes into the neighbor table. Instead of storing all nodes within transmission range, it selectively stores only those nodes that are actual communication partners based on message interactions, thereby reducing neighbor table size while maintaining routing efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality criteria to different neighboring nodes. Rather than treating all neighboring nodes equally, it distinguishes between communication partners (nodes with which actual messages are exchanged) and other neighboring nodes, assigning higher priority to communication partners in the neighbor table
2Reliability
If the neighbor table prioritizes nodes with best link quality, then link reliability is improved, but routing suboptimality occurs due to shorter hops and higher hop counts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary identification of communication partners through message interactions before finalizing neighbor table entries. By pre-establishing which nodes are actual communication partners through conditions (a), (b), or (c), the system can prioritize these nodes in the neighbor table, ensuring both link quality and routing efficiency are optimized
3Loss of information
If resource-constrained radio units store exhaustive neighbor lists, then complete topology information is available, but device complexity and memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary topology information (communication partners) from the complete network topology. By storing only nodes that are actual communication partners rather than all neighboring nodes, the system reduces memory requirements while maintaining sufficient routing information for efficient operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial storage of neighbor table entries by storing only a subset of neighboring nodes (those that are communication partners) rather than the complete set. This partial action is sufficient to achieve efficient routing without the excessive memory requirements of storing all neighboring nodes
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method of managing a neighbor table in a communication apparatus the method comprising the steps of the communication apparatus maintaining a neighbor table comprising a plurality of neighboring table entries corresponding to respective neighboring nodes being communication nodes in communication range of the communication apparatus, said maintaining including, upon determination that the neighbor table capacity has reached a threshold, replacing a first neighbor table entry corresponding to a first neighboring node from the neighbor table by a new neighbor table entry corresponding to a new neighboring node based on the determination that the new neighboring node is a communication partner, wherein a communication node is defined as a communication partner if at least one the following conditions is met: condition a a message including the communication partner as source address has been received by the communication apparatus, or condition b a message including the communication partner as destination address has been transmitted by the communication apparatus.