Routing Update via Reboot Counter Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
In communication networks, a node that reboots may miss routing information updates, and upon rebooting, it prefers to receive updates from nodes that have not recently rebooted, as they are likely to have more current routing information, but existing methods lack an efficient mechanism to determine and utilize this information effectively.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a node updating and sharing reboot information, such as reboot counters or timestamps, to identify nodes with more current routing information, allowing it to request and update its routing information from these nodes, and potentially utilizing network overlap or alternate power nodes if necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a node requests routing information from any node after reboot, then it can obtain routing information quickly, but it may receive outdated information from nodes that have also recently rebooted
Solution Approach 1:
Nodes perform preliminary actions by maintaining reboot information (counters or timestamps) and exchanging this information with neighboring nodes before routing information requests are needed. When a node reboots, it already has stored reboot information about its neighbors, allowing it to immediately identify which nodes are likely to have current routing information without needing to query each node individually first.
Solution Approach 2:
Reboot information acts as an intermediary mechanism between nodes. Instead of directly assessing the currentness of routing information from each node, nodes use the stored reboot information as a mediator to infer which nodes are most likely to have current routing information. This intermediary data structure enables indirect assessment of information freshness.
2Measurement precision
If a node stores and exchanges reboot information with all neighboring nodes, then it can identify nodes with current routing information accurately, but the complexity of information management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent simplifies complexity by changing the parameter representation of reboot information to a simple numeric counter or timestamp that increments or updates with each reboot event. This parameter transformation allows nodes to easily compare reboot information using simple numerical comparison operations rather than complex state tracking, maintaining measurement precision while reducing operational complexity.
3Reliability
If a rebooting node contacts multiple nodes to find one with current routing information, then it can obtain reliable information, but the time and network overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Nodes perform preliminary assessment of neighboring nodes' routing information currentness using stored reboot information before initiating contact. This preliminary filtering allows a rebooting node to identify and contact only the most promising nodes (those least likely to have rebooted recently), eliminating the need to systematically contact multiple nodes and thereby reducing time and network overhead while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of updating routing information in a network where reboot information of other nodes in the network is used to determine whether a given node has recent route updates. If the reboot information indicates the given node has not recently rebooted, then routing information from that given node is used to update the routing information of the comparing node. The reboot information may be a reboot counter which is incremented by a node in response to the node going through a reboot process. When a node reboots, it may request the reboot counter from neighboring nodes. The received reboot counter is compared to the stored reboot counter for at least one node. The rebooting node may choose to receive routing information from a node which has not had its reboot counter changed from the stored reboot counter. In the event none of the neighboring nodes have an unchanged reboot counter, requests may be made for the reboot counters of other nodes, which may be compared to the corresponding stored reboot counters, until the rebooting node discovers a node which has not recently rebooted according to the reboot counter, and may then download routing information from that node.