Wireless network with improved sharing of high power consumption tasks

1. A method of operating a wireless device to send data in a network that includes mediation devices, operating at a higher duty cycle than the wireless device, that are used to facilitate communication, the method comprising:

attempting to receive communications from a plurality of mediation devices; and

for each particular mediation device among the plurality of mediation devices:

receiving one or more parameters indicating a communication load carried by the particular mediation device;

comparing the one or more parameters to one or more predetermined limits; and

if one or more of the predetermined limits is exceeded for the particular mediation device, eliminating the particular mediation device from consideration for use in sending data.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

sending data using one or more of the mediation devices that have not been eliminated from consideration.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein sending data using one or more of the mediation devices that have not been eliminated comprises:

proportioning use of mediation devices that have not been eliminated from consideration for use in sending data, wherein each mediation device is used for a share of transmissions that is inversely related to the communication load carried by the particular mediation device as indicated by the one or more parameters.

4. The method according to claim 2 further comprising:

using each particular mediation device of the plurality of mediation devices that have not been eliminated for an amount of data that is proportional to an inverse of a quantification of communication load for the particular mediation device normalized by dividing by a sum of the inverse of the quantification of communication load summed over the plurality of mediation devices.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein:

the quantification of communication load is one of the one or more parameters indicating the communication load.

6. The method according to claim 4 wherein:

the quantification of communication load is based on a mathematical expression that combines a plurality of the one or more parameters indicating the communication load.

7. The method according to claim 4 wherein:

the quantification of communication load is selected from the group consisting of queue size and running average queue size.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein:

if the attempting to receive communications from a plurality of mediation devices results in receiving communications from only a first mediation device, transmitting data through the first mediation device.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein:

if the attempting to receive communications from a plurality of mediation devices results in receiving no communications from any mediation device, commencing to operate as a mediation device.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein:

if the attempting to receive communications from a plurality of mediation devices results in receiving no communications from any of the plurality of mediation devices, commencing to operate in a mode that is not enabled by mediation devices.

11. A method of operating a wireless device to send data in a network that includes mediation devices, operating at a higher duty cycle than the wireless device, that are used to facilitate communication, the method comprising:

detecting more than one of a plurality of mediation devices;

for each particular mediation device among the plurality of mediation devices that are detected, receiving one or more parameters indicating a communication load carried by the particular mediation device; and

scheduling transmission with at least one of the mediation devices that are detected according to the one or more parameters by distributing transmissions among the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices, wherein each particular mediation device of the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices that are detected is used for an amount of transmissions that is inversely related to the communication load carried by the particular mediation device as indicated by the one or more parameters.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein:

distributing transmissions among the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices that are detected comprises:

scheduling each particular mediation device of the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices to be used for an amount of communication that is proportional to an inverse of a quantification of communication load for the particular mediation device normalized by dividing by a sum of the inverse of the quantification of communication load summed over the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices.

13. The method according to claim 12 wherein the quantification of communication load comprises a parameter selected from the group consisting of an indicator of queue size and an indicator of running average queue size.

14. The method according to claim 11 wherein:

in case only a first of the plurality of mediation devices is detected

transmitting data through the first mediation device.

15. The method according to claim 11 wherein:

in case none of the plurality of mediation devices is detected, commencing to operate as a mediation device.

16. A method of operating a wireless device to send data in a network that includes mediation devices, operating at a higher duty cycle than the wireless device, that are used to facilitate communication, the method comprising:

detecting a plurality of mediation devices;

for each particular mediation device among the plurality of mediation devices: receiving one or more parameters indicating a communication load carried by the particular mediation device;

performing route discovery wherein virtual hop counts are determined that are indicative of how quickly one or more batteries will be exhausted, in one or more nodes, in one or more routes involving at least one of the plurality of mediation devices; and

scheduling transmission with at least one of the plurality of mediation devices based on the one or more parameters, and the virtual hop counts for routes through at least a subset of the plurality of mediation devices.

17. The method according to claim 16 wherein scheduling transmissions comprises:

comparing the virtual hop count for each of the one or more routes to a threshold;

in case the virtual hop count for any of the one or more routes is below the threshold, choosing a route that involves one of the plurality of mediation devices that has a lowest communication load as indicated in the one or more parameters; and

in case the virtual hop count for any of the one or more routes is not below the threshold, choosing a mediation device that is associated with a route that has an extremum virtual hop count.

18. A wireless device for use in a wireless network that comprises mediation devices, operating at a higher duty cycle than the wireless device, for use in communication, the wireless device comprising:

a transceiver comprising a receiver and a transmitter;

a program memory for storing a control program;

a controller coupled to the transceiver for exchanging digital signals and data with the controller, said controller being further coupled to the program memory for receiving program instructions of the control program;

wherein the control program configures the wireless device to:

detect a plurality of mediation devices; and

for each particular mediation device among the plurality of mediation devices:

receive one or more parameters indicating a communication load carried by the particular mediation device; and

schedule transmission through at least one of the plurality of mediation devices according to the one or more parameters by distributing transmissions among the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices, wherein each particular mediation device of the more than one of the plurality of mediation devices that are detected is used for an amount of transmissions that is inversely related to the communication load carried by the particular mediation device as indicated by the one or more parameters.

19. A wireless system comprising:

a first plurality of wireless devices configured for low duty cycle operation;

a second plurality of wireless devices configured to operate at a higher duty cycle than the first plurality of wireless devices and also configured to serve as mediation devices that support low duty cycle operation by the first plurality of wireless devices;

wherein each of the first plurality of wireless devices is configured to:

receive one or more parameters that are indicative of a communication load from each of a subset of the second plurality of wireless devices; and

choose one or more of the subset, to be used in communicating based, at least in part on, the one or more parameters, wherein each of the second plurality of wireless devices of the subset is used for an amount of transmissions that is inversely related to the communication load carried by the each of the second plurality of wireless devices of the subset as indicated by the one or more parameters.

20. The wireless system according to claim 19 , wherein, in choosing one or more of the subset, the first plurality of devices are configured to compare the one or more parameters to one or more limit values, and eliminate from consideration wireless devices for which the limit values are violated.

21. The wireless system according to claim 19 wherein, in receiving one or more parameters, each of the first plurality of wireless devices receives a parameter related to queue length from each of the subset of the second plurality of devices.

22. A wireless device for operating in a wireless network that comprises mediation devices operating at a higher duty cycle than the wireless device, the wireless device comprising:

a means for detecting a plurality of mediation devices; and

for each particular mediation device among the plurality of mediation devices that are detected:

a means for receiving one or more parameters indicating a communication load carried by the particular mediation devices; and

a means for scheduling transmission through at least one of the detected mediation devices based, at least in part, on the one or more parameters by distributing transmissions among the at least one of the detected of mediation devices, wherein each at least one of the detected mediation devices is used for an amount of transmissions that is inversely related to the communication load carried by the at least one of the detected mediation device as indicated by the one or more parameters.

23. A wireless device for operating in a network that includes mediation devices, operating at a higher duty cycle than the wireless device, that are used for communication, the wireless device comprising:

a means for detecting a plurality of mediation devices;

a means for receiving one or more parameters indicating a communication load carried by each of the plurality of mediation devices;

a means for comparing the one or more parameters to one or more predetermined limits; and

a means for eliminating a particular mediation device from consideration for use if one or more of the predetermined limits is exceeded for the particular mediation device.