Mesh network defragmentation

摘要

Methods of reassembling a mesh network which has been disrupted by the unavailability of a node or a link are disclosed. Nodes continuously receive beacon messages originating from a leader node. These beacon messages may be transmitted directly by the leader node, or may have been retransmitted by an intermediate node. When a node determines that it has not received a beacon message in a certain time period, it concludes that it is now disconnected from that leader node. At this point, it may choose to act as a leader node and form a new network, or may join with another network. The determination of which network to join may be based on some indicia associated with the leader node of that network.

主权项

1. A method of creating a mesh network having a single leader node, from a plurality of nodes, wherein each of said plurality of nodes executes said method, said method comprising:
receiving one or more beacon messages at said node, wherein each node sending a beacon message temporarily assumes leader node status, and wherein each of said beacon messages comprises a unique indicia associated with said sending node; comparing, at said receiving node, said indicia of each of said received beacon messages; selecting a leader node based on said comparison; and retransmitting from said receiving node said beacon message comprising said indicia of said selected leader node, wherein said method is repeated until all of said plurality of nodes have selected the same leader node.