Characterizing uncoordinated interference of a wireless network

1. A method of a wireless access node within a network characterizing uncoordinated interference, comprising:

the wireless access node collecting air-time usage history at the wireless access node, comprising the wireless access node receiving and monitoring signals over time that are greater than a threshold;

the wireless access node receiving air-time usage history of at least one neighboring wireless node, wherein the air-time usage history of the at least one neighboring wireless node is obtained by the at least one neighboring wireless node monitoring over time, signals received by the at least one neighboring node greater than a threshold;

the wireless access node estimating an impact of uncoordinated interference, comprising comparatively analyzing the collected air-time usage of the wireless access node and the received air-time usage of the at least one neighboring wireless node, comprising synchronizing the collected air-time usage of the wireless access node and the received air-time usage of the at least one neighboring wireless node, and generating a histogram of available air-time based on the comparative analysis; and

the wireless access node identifying gaps of the available air-time based at least in part on the comparative analysis, and increasing its transmission bit rate and number of transmitted data packets during the identified gaps.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising estimating a link quality between the wireless node and at least one neighboring node based on the comparative analysis.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the network is a wireless mesh network, and the method further comprises the wireless node selecting a routing path to an upstream gateway at least in part based upon the link quality between the wireless node and the neighboring node.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein synchronizing the collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage comprises correlating the collected air-time usage with the received air-time usage.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein synchronizing the collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage comprises XORing the collected air-time usage with the received air-time usage with several different time offsets.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a transmission power based at least in part on the comparative analysis.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling fragmentation of transmission data packets based at least in part on the comparative analysis.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless node is part of a wireless mesh network, and the method further comprises the wireless node broadcasting air-time usage information of the wireless node, the air-time usage information comprised at least in part on the collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the wireless node broadcasting the air-time usage information within routing packets.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the wireless node receiving routing packets from neighboring nodes, wherein the received routing packet comprise at least in part, air-time usage information of the neighboring node.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the wireless node selects a routing path to a routing packet originating gateway based at least in part on characteristics of routing packets received from the neighboring nodes, and the comparative analysis of the collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless access node collecting air-time usage history at the wireless access node further comprises the wireless access node receiving and monitoring signals over time that are greater than a plurality of thresholds.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless access node receiving air-time usage history of at least one neighboring wireless node comprises the wireless access node receiving the air-time usage history of the at least one neighboring wireless node, wherein the air-time usage history of the at least one neighboring wireless node is obtained by the at least one wireless node monitoring over time, signals received by the at least one neighboring node greater than a plurality of thresholds.

14. A method of a wireless mesh network characterizing uncoordinated interference, the wireless mesh network comprising a gateway, and a plurality of wireless nodes, the method comprising:

each wireless node within the wireless mesh network collecting air-time usage history at the wireless node, comprising the wireless node receiving and monitoring signals over time that are greater than a threshold;

each wireless node and the gateway within the wireless mesh network receiving air-time usage history of at least one neighboring wireless node, wherein the air-time usage history of the at least one neighboring wireless node is obtained by the at least one neighboring wireless node monitoring over time, signals received by the at least one neighboring node greater than a threshold;

each wireless access node and the gateway comparatively analyzing collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage;

the gateway broadcasting routing beacons, the routing beacons comprising at least part of the comparatively analyzed collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage of the gateway; and

each access node that selects a routing path to the gateway, re-broadcasting the routing beacons after attaching the comparatively analyzed collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage of the access node.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein each access node selects the routing path to the gateway based at least in part on collected air-time usage and the received air-time usage of an upstream wireless node or the gateway.

16. A wireless access node, wherein the wireless access node is operative to:

collect air-time usage history at the wireless access node, comprising the wireless access node receiving and monitoring signals over time that are greater than a threshold;

receive air-time usage history of at least one neighboring wireless node, wherein the air-time usage history of the at least one neighboring wireless node is obtained by the at least one wireless node monitoring over time, signals received by the at least one neighboring node greater than a threshold;

estimate an impact of uncoordinated interference, comprising comparatively analyzing the collected air-time usage of the wireless access node and the received air-time usage of the at least one neighboring wireless node, comprising synchronizing the collected air-time usage of the wireless access node and the received air-time usage of the at least one neighboring wireless node, and generating a histogram of available air-time based on the comparative analysis; and

identify gaps of the available air-time based at least in part on the comparative analysis, and increase its transmission bit rate and number of transmitted data packets during the identified gaps.

17. A wireless access node, wherein the wireless access node is operative to:

collect air-time usage history at the wireless access node, comprising the wireless access node receiving and monitoring signals over time that are greater than a threshold;

receive air-time usage history of at least one neighboring wireless node, wherein the air-time usage history of the at least one neighboring wireless node is obtained by the at least one wireless node monitoring over time, signals received by the at least one neighboring node greater than a threshold;

estimate an impact of uncoordinated interference, comprising comparatively analyzing the collected air-time usage of the wireless access node and the received air-time usage of the at least one neighboring wireless node, comprising synchronizing the collected air-time usage of the wireless access node and the received air-time usage of the at least one neighboring wireless node, and generating a histogram of available air-time based on the comparative analysis; and

identify a frequency and occurrence of slots of available air-time based at least in part on the comparative analysis, fragment its data packets, and transmit the fragmented data packets according to the slots of available air-time.