Wireless Terminal Sleep Determination for Mesh Network Power Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, especially in dense residential areas where houses are closely built or far apart, existing network configurations like star-type and mesh-type networks face challenges in reducing power consumption and ensuring reliable long-distance communication, particularly in multi-hop wireless ad-hoc networks where sensor devices struggle to sleep due to their role in maintaining communication paths.
Innovation Solution
A wireless communication terminal system that includes a processor to manage communication paths, determine sleep states, and transmit specific packets to adjacent terminals, allowing for sleep determination and power management based on communication path information and terminal states, ensuring that devices can sleep without disrupting the network's functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a mesh-type network is used to enable communication in dense residential areas, then communication reliability is improved, but power consumption increases because sensor devices cannot sleep
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic sleep scheduling where sensor devices can transition between active and sleep states based on their role in the communication path. Devices that are not currently needed for data transmission can enter sleep mode, while those required for maintaining communication paths remain active. This dynamic state adjustment resolves the contradiction by allowing power savings without compromising communication reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic activation cycles where sensor devices alternately activate and sleep in a coordinated manner. During each cycle, certain devices are designated as active for data transmission while others sleep, then roles are rotated in subsequent cycles. This periodic action allows the network to maintain reliability through role rotation while enabling power savings during sleep periods.
2Reliability
If sensor devices are required to maintain communication paths in a mesh network, then network functionality is preserved, but the ability to reduce power consumption is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary path determination before data transmission, identifying which sensor devices are currently needed to maintain communication paths. Devices not identified as necessary for path maintenance are preemptively placed in sleep mode. This preliminary action allows the network to preserve functionality through advance planning while minimizing power consumption by keeping unnecessary devices dormant.
Solution Approach 2:
Sensor devices autonomously determine their own sleep or active status based on their current role in the communication path and the states of adjacent devices. Each device independently makes decisions about power management without requiring continuous control from other devices, enabling self-service operation that reduces overall network power consumption while maintaining functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
In a wireless communication terminal, a processor is configured to execute sleep determination when a wireless communicator receives a sleep-declaration packet from a sleep-declaration terminal. The processor is configured to determine that sleep by the sleep-declaration terminal is accepted if an upper-rank terminal in a wake-up state other than the sleep-declaration terminal is present. The processor is configured to determine that the sleep by the sleep-declaration terminal is not accepted in the first sleep determination if the upper-rank terminal in the wake-up state other than the sleep-declaration terminal is not present. The processor is configured to cause the wireless communicator to transmit a sleep-prohibition packet to the sleep-declaration terminal when the processor determines that the sleep by the sleep-declaration terminal is not accepted.