Network administrator interface systems and methods for monitoring industrial wireless, self-organizing mesh communication networks
Systems and method for self-organizing mesh networks of industrial radio devices include identifying and reporting neighboring radio devices and active devices with each radio at the network nodes. The reporting, which is collected by a monitoring device separately provided from the radio devices in the network, facilitates graphical representations of communication routes and current status as active and inactive for review by network administrators at a user interface.
1. A multi-path radio communications system for monitoring and controlling an industrial process, the multi-path radio communications system comprising:
a plurality of processor-based radio devices configured to wirelessly communicate in a self-organizing mesh network wherein each processor-based radio device is arranged to communicate with multiple other processor-based radio devices in the self-organizing mesh network;
wherein at least one of the plurality of processor-based radio devices is configured to:
identify neighboring processor-based radio devices in the self-organizing mesh network;
identify active message routes and standby message routes relating to each of the neighboring processor-based radio devices; and
report the identified neighboring processor-based radio devices and the active message routes and standby message routes over the self-organizing mesh network; and
a processor-based network administration interface receiving the report and configured to generate a graphical screen display based on the report;
wherein the graphical screen display includes a visual depiction of the at least one of the plurality of processor-based radio devices and associated neighboring processor-based radio devices; and
wherein the graphical screen display indicates and distinguishes the active message routes and standby message routes relating to each neighboring processor-based radio device.
2. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 1 , further comprising a monitoring device receiving the report from the at least one of the plurality of processor-based radio devices.
3. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 2 , wherein the processor-based network administration interface receives the report from the monitoring device.
4. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 3 , wherein the processor-based network administration interface is connected to the monitoring device via one of a local and remote connection.
5. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 1 , wherein the graphical screen display includes a list of the plurality of processor-based radio devices and their neighboring relationships with other of the plurality of processor-based radio devices.
6. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-based network administration interface is configured to generate the graphical screen display showing only active message routes, only standby message routes, or only unavailable message routes.
7. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 1 wherein the processor-based network administration interface is configured to generate a graphical screen display showing unavailable message routes.
8. A multi-path radio communications system comprising:
a plurality of processor-based radio devices configured to wirelessly communicate with one another in a self-organizing mesh network, each of the plurality of processor-based radio devices configured to:
identify respective neighboring processor-based radio devices in the self-organizing mesh network;
identify respective active message routes and standby message routes relating to each of the neighboring processor-based radio devices; and
report the identified respective neighboring processor-based radio devices and active message routes and standby message routes over the self-organizing mesh network; and
a processor-based network administration interface receiving reports from the plurality of processor-based radio devices and configured to generate a graphical screen display based on the reports;
wherein the graphical screen display includes a visual depiction of the plurality of processor-based radio devices whereby neighboring relationships between the plurality of processor-based radio devices are observable; and
wherein the graphical screen display indicates and distinguishes the active message routes and standby message routes between neighboring processor-based radio devices.
9. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 8 , further comprising a monitoring device receiving the reports from at least some of the plurality of processor-based radio devices.
10. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 9 , wherein the processor-based network administration interface is connected to the monitoring device via one of a local and remote connection.
11. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 8 , wherein the graphical screen display includes a list of neighboring processor-based radio devices for each respective one of the plurality of processor-based radio devices.
12. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 8 , wherein the processor-based network administration interface is configured to generate the graphical screen display showing only active message routes, only standby message routes, or only unavailable message routes.
13. The multi-path radio communications system of claim 8 wherein the processor-based network administration interface is configured to generate a graphical screen display showing unavailable message routes.
14. A method of administrating a multi-path radio communications network having a plurality of processor-based radio devices configured to wirelessly communicate with one another in a self-organizing mesh network and a processor-based network administration interface, the method comprising:
identifying, with each of the plurality of processor-based radio devices, respective neighboring processor-based radio devices in the self-organizing mesh network;
identifying, with each of the plurality of processor-based radio devices, respective active message routes and respective standby message routes relating to each of the neighboring processor-based radio devices;
reporting the identified respective neighboring processor-based radio devices and the respective active message routes and standby message routes, with each of the plurality of processor based radio devices, over the self-organizing mesh network; and
generating, with the processor-based network administration interface, a graphical screen display including a visual depiction of the plurality of processor-based radio devices, whereby all neighboring relationships between the plurality of processor-based radio devices are observable; and
wherein the graphical screen display indicates and distinguishes the active message routes and standby message routes between neighboring processor-based radio devices.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
providing a monitoring device; and
receiving the reported identified respective neighboring radio devices and the respective active message routes and standby message routes with the monitoring device.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving the reported identified respective neighboring processor-based radio devices and the respective active message routes and standby message routes with the monitoring device.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising connecting the monitoring device and the processor-based network administration interface via one of a local and remote connection.
18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, via the graphical screen display, displaying a list of neighboring processor-based radio devices for each respective one of the plurality of processor-based radio devices.
19. The method of claim 14 wherein generating the graphical screen display comprises presenting an option to a user to display only active message routes, only standby message routes, or only unavailable message routes.
20. The method of claim 14 wherein generating the graphical screen display comprises generating a graphical screen display showing unavailable message routes between neighboring processor-based radio devices.