Radio Bonding in Multi-Hop Mesh Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-radio mesh networks face challenges in scaling traffic capacity and efficiency due to environmental conditions and the need for effective traffic management across multiple radio interfaces.
Innovation Solution
Implementing radio bonding by selectively assigning radios to channels, treating links between nodes as logical links, and dynamically load balancing traffic based on interface utilization, while optimizing routing protocols to manage bonded links as single logical links or individual links based on predetermined criteria.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple radio interfaces are used in parallel, then network capacity increases, but device complexity and traffic management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple physical radio interfaces into a single logical interface through radio bonding. Multiple radios working in parallel are aggregated to form one logical interface, which simplifies the view from upper protocol layers while maintaining the increased capacity benefits of multiple physical interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The logical interface serves multiple functions by representing both a single unified communication channel and multiple underlying physical radios simultaneously. This multi-functionality allows the system to maintain simplicity at the protocol layer while exploiting the capacity of multiple physical interfaces.
2Productivity
If multiple radio interfaces are used in parallel, then network capacity increases, but traffic management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple physical radio interfaces are merged into a single logical interface, which consolidates traffic management. Instead of managing multiple separate interfaces, the system manages one logical interface that internally distributes traffic across the underlying physical radios, significantly simplifying traffic management operations.
3Productivity
If routing protocols treat each link individually, then link utilization is optimized, but network overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple individual link management operations are merged into single logical interface management. The routing protocol interacts with one logical interface rather than multiple individual links, reducing the quantity of routing messages and overhead while the internal bonding mechanism maintains optimized utilization across all physical radios.
Data Source
AI summary
In a mesh network composed of multiple-radio nodes, we assign each radio to one of a plurality of channels, and treat a plurality of links between a pair of nodes as one logical link (bonded link). In some embodiments, the routing protocol is adapted to view each bonded link as one link having a combination of at least some of the properties of the constituent physical links. Traffic sent along a path is dynamically load balanced between the interfaces at each intermediate node based on the current utilization of each interface. In at least some embodiments, route discovery packets record the metrics of each component link of the bonded links leaving a node, but only one route discovery packet per pair of nodes is forwarded, reducing the route discovery packet traffic compared to if each route discovery packet were forwarded over each component link between the pair of nodes.