Method for controlling flood broadcasts in a wireless mesh network
US9979635B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 7, 2016 |
| Grant date | May 22, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 7, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04W84/18
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Computer networks with multiple nodes are often required to deliver packets to all nodes in the network, commonly referred to as “flooding.” Flooding is used to deliver multicast and broadcast packets generated by application, network and other layers of the networking stack. Flooding can be done very reliably but less efficiently via node to node “unicast” transmissions, or very efficiently but less reliably via “broadcast” transmissions. In order to balance reliability with efficiency, this invention defines a threshold for the number of neighboring nodes as seen by a given node prior to a flooding operation to determine whether data should be unicast or broadcast. Below that threshold, unicast is used; at or above that threshold, broadcast is used. The invention also incorporates knowledge of nodes seen in turn by neighbor nodes as part of this decision.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.