Zigbee Node Access Using Neighbor Tables Without Route Discovery

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Solution Overview

Problem

The increasing size of wireless lighting networks, such as Zigbee networks, leads to costly and inefficient route discovery processes, requiring numerous messages to establish connections with all network nodes, especially in standalone setups without a gateway.

Innovation Solution

A user device accesses a wireless communication network through a proxy device using a single-hop communication protocol for initial connection and multi-hop communication protocol for network access, recursively retrieving neighbor tables and building source routes to all desired nodes without traditional route discovery, optimizing the process with neighbor table reading and source routing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional route discovery (AODV) is used to access network nodes in wireless lighting networks, then route establishment is achieved, but signaling overhead and latency increase significantly as network size grows

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveroute establishmentVSAvoidsignaling overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent pre-establishes source routing tables in the gateway device that store routing information from multiple network nodes to the proxy device. This preliminary action eliminates the need for on-demand route discovery, reducing signaling overhead and energy consumption when accessing network nodes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary that maintains source routing tables and facilitates communication between the proxy device and network nodes. The gateway acts as a mediator that pre-computes and stores routing paths, eliminating the need for direct route discovery between the proxy and individual network nodes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If traditional route discovery (AODV) is used to access network nodes in wireless lighting networks, then route establishment is achieved, but access latency increases with network size

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveroute establishmentVSAvoidaccess latency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements dynamic source routing where the gateway device maintains and updates source routing tables with current network topology information. This allows the system to adapt to network changes while maintaining pre-computed paths, reducing access latency compared to static routing or on-demand discovery.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Loss of energy

If source routing with neighbor table retrieval is used instead of traditional route discovery, then signaling overhead is reduced, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesignaling overheadVSAvoidrouting mechanism

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses source routing tables that contain copied routing information from multiple network nodes to the proxy device. Instead of performing complex real-time route discovery, the system uses pre-copied routing paths stored in the gateway, simplifying the access mechanism while reducing signaling overhead.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

4Adaptability or versatility

If the user device recursively retrieves neighbor tables and builds source routes to all network nodes, then comprehensive node access is achieved, but processing time and memory usage increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenode access capabilityVSAvoidroute building time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS20250247328A1Method and apparatus for accessing a network node without route discovery

Publication Date: 2025.07.31 SIGNIFY HOLDING BV

AI summary

The present invention provides network access to network nodes (e.g., Zigbee nodes) without route discovery by combined reading of neighbor tables and source routing. By repeatedly reading neighbor tables of all nodes in the network, powered nodes can be found. Neighbor tables of neighbors listed in the neighbor table of the first node are read by providing a source route which may be obtained by tracking from which node the neighbor table was read. Route selection may be controlled based on a route quality (e.g., path cost). The result of this process is a list of source routes to all nodes. It is then possible to communicate with all nodes in the network using source routing (e.g., to read the light state).