The invention relates to communications, and more particularly, to a system and method for communicating over a wireless network.
Wireless communications networks have found great utility in many commercial and military applications. However, some types of wireless networks become less efficient in transmitting information when a large number of nodes are attempting to communicate thereon.
One challenge faced in communications networks is the scheduling of communications slots for each node in the network. In networks with small numbers of nodes it may be efficient to permanently assign a recurring communication slot to each node according to a predetermined schedule. Where large numbers of nodes are involved, however, the permanent pre-assignment of slots may create an unacceptably long communication cycle as each node waits its turn to communicate according to the predetermined schedule. The addition of multiple frequencies or channels may reduce delays by creating more communication slots, but fielded transceivers may not be equipped to communicate on the number of channels required for a large-scale, multi-channel, low delay network.
Attempts to assign priority to certain nodes in a network have included the concept of artery nodes, which has been disclosed and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/867,481, “Artery Nodes,” filed Jun. 14, 2004, having inventors C. David Young et al. and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Artery nodes are nodes that form an interconnected arterial sub-network within the network and that assign slots to neighboring nodes. A sub-network of artery nodes has been found to efficiently manage network communications in many different network topology types. However, as currently defined the concept of artery nodes may not converge within a satisfactory time for some network topologies. Furthermore, the network may be required to redefine each node's status as an artery node or as a non-artery node each time a node enters or leaves the network. When nodes are constantly entering and exiting a communications network in an ad-hoc fashion, the network may not converge to an artery sub-network solution by the time another node enters or exits the network.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a communications network that efficiently manages a large number of nodes.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of quickly converging on an arterial subnetwork within a communications network
A feature of the invention is the application of a set of rules that reduce the time necessary to form an interconnected, minimal arterial sub-network within a communications network, where the nodes in the arterial sub-network assign communication slots to neighboring nodes.
An advantage of the invention is a decrease in time necessary for a network to converge to an arterial sub-network solution.
Another advantage of the invention is that the resulting arterial sub-network is minimal.
The invention provides a method of establishing an arterial sub-network of nodes in a communications network. According to the method, the one-hop neighbor sets of each node are compared with the one-hop neighbor sets of the neighbors of each node, and a set of rules are applied to determine whether or not each node is to be part of the arterial sub-network.
The invention also provides a method of establishing an arterial sub-network of nodes in a communications network comprised of a plurality of nodes such that each of the plurality of nodes in the communications network is within one hop of a node in the arterial sub-network. According to the method, a first node of the plurality of nodes is assigned to be part of the arterial sub-network when a set comprising the one-hop neighbors of the first node is a proper superset of each of the first node's one-hop neighbors' sets of neighbors.
The invention also provides a method of establishing an arterial sub-network of nodes in a communications network comprised of a plurality of nodes, the arterial network characterized in that each node in the network is within one hop of a node in the arterial sub-network. According to the method, a first node of the plurality of nodes is assigned to be part of the arterial sub-network when a set comprising all one-hop neighbors of the first node is not a proper subset of any of the first node's one-hop neighbor's sets, where
The invention also provides a method of establishing an arterial sub-network of nodes in a communications network comprised of a plurality of nodes, the arterial network characterized in that each node in the network is within one hop of a node in the arterial sub-network. According to the method, a first node of the plurality of nodes is assigned to be part of the arterial sub-network when
The invention also provides a method of establishing an arterial sub-network of nodes in a communications network having a plurality of nodes such that each of the plurality of nodes in the communications network is within one hop of a node in the arterial sub-network. According to the method, a first node of the plurality of nodes is assigned to be part of the arterial sub-network when one-hop neighbors of the first node have sets of neighbors, where the sets have no nodes in common.
The invention further provides, in a communications network comprised of a plurality of nodes, a method of determining whether each node is to be assigned as part of an arterial sub-network of nodes defined such that each of the plurality of nodes in the communications network is within one hop of a node in the arterial sub-network. According to the method, all one-hop neighbors of a first node are entered into a set. The first node is assigned to not be part of the arterial sub-network when one of
The invention further provides, in a communications network comprised of a plurality of nodes, a method of determining whether a node in the network is part of an arterial sub-network of nodes defined such that each of the plurality of nodes in the communications network is within one hop of a node in the arterial sub-network. According to the method, each node is assigned to not be a part of the arterial sub-network when said each node has a set of neighbors that is different from at least one of said each node's neighbors' neighbor sets and said each node's neighbors are either directly connected or they are connected by a node having one-hop neighbors that are reporting disjoint sets of one-hop neighbors.
The invention also provides an ad-hoc communications network having a plurality of nodes. Each of the plurality of nodes has a set of one-hop neighbors, the one hop neighbors of each node being nodes directly communicating with said each node. The network also includes an arterial, connected sub-network within the plurality of nodes. The arterial sub-network assigns communication resources to adjacent nodes that are not part of the arterial sub-network. Each of the plurality of nodes are assigned to be part of the arterial sub-network when one of
Artery nodes are designed to improve the efficient use of channel resources for bursty traffic, which occurs when certain nodes in a network are permitted to increase their capacity and reduce their latency by assigning themselves time slots on one or more communications channels in which to broadcast information. The basic concept of artery nodes is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/867,481, “Artery Nodes,” filed Jun. 14, 2004, having inventors C. David Young et al. and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Under bursty traffic conditions it can be inefficient, and in very dense networks perhaps not even possible, to permanently assign every node a time slot since much of the time many nodes may have little to transmit. Network performance can be improved under these conditions if certain nodes reserve one or more time slots while the remaining nodes access these nodes using various access strategies. The nodes that reserve one or more broadcast slots can be termed artery nodes, and are selected to form an interconnected, arterial sub-network within the communications network. As shown in
To determine whether a node should be an artery node, each node first defines a set of Artery Node Neighbors (ANN) as (a) the set of neighbors to the node that have announced themselves as artery nodes, and (b) the node itself if currently assigned to be an artery node. A node's neighbors are those nodes within one communication hop of the node, or in other words, those nodes that can directly communicate with the node. Each node announces its ANN set periodically in its monitor packets. The node will then examine the ANNs of its neighbors to decide if it should become an artery node. In doing so the following algorithm, known as the Artery Node Rule (ANR) is followed:
If ( (a node has no artery node neighbors)
OR (two neighbor ANNs (excluding this node) are disjoint))
This rule can be restated in an equivalent form as the Anti-Artery Node Rule (Anti-ANR) where the conditions are specified in which a node is not an artery node:
If ( (a node has an artery node neighbor)
AND (no two neighbor ANNs (excluding this node) are disjoint))
Taking node 6 in
In a large communications network, there may be many nodes simultaneously connecting and disconnecting thereto, and it may be necessary to continually determine whether or not a particular node should assign itself as an artery node. To ensure convergence to an arterial sub-network solution, a randomization delay is enforced before a node performs the previously described algorithm. For example, before changing from a non-artery node state to an artery node state or vice-versa, a delay is waited. The delay may be completely random or may be a function of the number of nodes within one or two hops that reported a change in state in a previous reporting period. As the likelihood decreases that two simultaneously connecting nodes will be assigned the same randomization delay, the likelihood of simultaneously executing the algorithm for the nodes is lessened.
Even though the Artery Node Rule converges to an artery node solution on its own, additional rules can be applied to speed such convergence. The Skeletal Node Rules disclosed herein reduce convergence to an artery node solution and are especially advantageous in a large network or in an ad-hoc network in which nodes are continuously entering and exiting the network. In such circumstances swift convergence to an artery node solution can be critical to successful operation of the network.
The Skeletal Node Rules compare a node's list of neighbors with the lists provided by its neighbor nodes and categorizes the nodes into one of six node types. The first two types are described as “stable” because application of the ANR will always give the same result.
The next two node types are described as “bi-stable” because application of the ANR will not always give the same result, but application of the Skeletal Node Rules as presented herein will always give the same result.
The last two node types are described as random because such nodes do not fall into the previous categories, and application of the ANR with a randomization delay is a way to determine the artery node status of such nodes.
As previously stated, the Skeletal Node Rules inspect the neighbor sets (NSs) being reported by each of a node's neighbors. In all cases the neighbor set includes the reporting node but excludes the node itself. The rules also assume that the neighbor information advertised by each node includes each neighbor's stable artery status. The Skeletal Node Rules, expressed in terms of a node i, are as follows:
If none of the Skeletal Node Rules apply to node i, the Artery Node Rule (ANR) can be applied using randomization delay techniques as previously described. The ANR can be expressed as follows for node i and neighbors j and k:
ANR=[ANNi−{i}=φ][∃j≠k(ANNj∩ANNk)−{i}=φ]
It is not necessary to apply the Skeletal Node Rules, i.e., the Stable Artery Node Rule, the Stable Non-Artery Node Rule, the Bi-Stable Artery Node Rule, and the Bi-Stable Non-Artery Node Rule, in any particular order. However, the Artery Node Rule with randomization should be applied to a node once the Skeletal Node Rules have been applied to a node and are ineffective in determining whether the node should be an artery node.
An advantage of the invention is that, for most typical network topologies, the Skeletal Node Rules (SNRs) greatly reduce the number of nodes which must apply the ANR with randomization. Stable and bi-stable nodes can immediately be identified and can assume artery or non-artery node status by applying the skeletal node rules, thus speeding convergence. In particular, the SNRs are very helpful in speeding convergence in a highly or fully connected network, precisely the cases that are most problematic for randomization.
Another advantage is that because artery nodes have prioritized access to communication time slots, a stable, efficient, and predictable sub-network is quickly created within a communications network.
Another advantage is that the Skeletal Node Rules can be easily implemented by each individual node in a network without a centralized control system. The Skeletal Node Rules create a self-converging solution in creating an artery node network.
While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred form, the specific embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the invention includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed herein. No single feature, function, element or property of the disclosed embodiments is essential to all of the disclosed inventions. Similarly, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
It is believed that the following claims particularly point out certain combinations and subcombinations that are directed to the disclosed inventions and are novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of the present claims or presentation of new claims in this or a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to a different invention or directed to the same invention, whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are also regarded as included within the subject matter of the invention of the present disclosure.
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