Although computer networks have become relatively common both in office and in home networking environments, such networks are typically fairly sophisticated and require significant processing power, electrical power, and infrastructure to work well. Some networking applications do not require so robust a network environment, but can benefit from the ability to provide electronic communications between devices.
One such example is the Bluetooth technology that enables a cell phone user to associate and use an earpiece in what is sometimes referred to a personal area network or PAN. Another example is a mesh network, in which a number of devices work together to form a mesh, such that data can be sent from a source device to a destination device via other devices in the mesh network.
Mesh networks often include multiple links from a network node to other network nodes nearby, and can thereby provide routing around broken links or paths by discovering other routes through the mesh to a destination node. New nodes to a mesh network are typically able to automatically discover the mesh network when they are activated in the vicinity of a compatible mesh network, and can easily join the network.
Mesh networks are typically made up of network nodes that are not mobile, and so link quality and reliability is relatively slow to change. Most applications of mesh networks rely on radio frequency communications to transfer data between network nodes, as running cables between nodes defeats somewhat the intended ease of use of mesh network devices.
The quality of radio frequency or RF links between mesh network devices is affected by a variety of factors, including outside interference such as from other RF devices, and movement of other objects within the mesh network environment. Further, the link quality between two nodes in one direction can be significantly different than the link quality in the other direction, meaning that knowledge of link quality in one direction is not sufficient to fully characterize the ability of two nodes to communicate with one another. Because many mesh network technologies rely both on the ability of a node to send data as well as to receive acknowledgment, bidirectional link quality is important to the reliability of a mesh network.
Some of these problems are compounded in a battery-powered device mesh network environment, where controlling or limiting the rate of battery power consumption is a priority. Radio transmissions particularly consume significant amounts of power, and are desirably kept to a minimum to improve battery life.
There exists a need to provide wireless mesh network technology that addresses factors such as link quality, power consumption, mesh reliability, and other such factors.
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