Systems and methods for wireless network routing using radio frequency distance-based virtual node locations

摘要

Devices and methods used in a wireless network employing geographical routing using virtual node locations. Such virtual node locations can be computed by a central computer that gathers information from some or all of the nodes. Each node may, for example, identify itself and its neighbors and provide a value indicative of the radio frequency (RF) distance to such neighbors. Examples of RF distance indicators include, but are not limited to, received signal strength indication (RSSI) and packet success rate (PSR). Geographic coordinates for none or some of the nodes may also be used to determine the virtual coordinates.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving radio frequency (RF) distance information for a first node of a wireless network, wherein the RF distance information describes wireless communication quality between the first node and each of one or more neighboring nodes in the wireless network; determining a virtual location of the first node using the RF distance information, wherein a distance of the virtual location of the first node from a geographic location or a virtual location of a second node is based on wireless communication quality between the first node and second node; and providing the virtual location of the first node for use in routing messages in the wireless network, wherein the first node is associated with location information comprising both the virtual location of the first node and an actual location of the first node different from the virtual location of the first node, wherein messages are routed using an algorithm that uses actual locations and virtual locations of nodes, wherein, in routing decisions, an actual location of a respective node is only used if a virtual location of the respective node is not available.