Simultaneous control of a subnet of nodes in a wireless network

1. A system comprising:

a network controller; and

a plurality of nodes that are configured in a wireless mesh network and that are communicatively coupled to the network controller, wherein a node of a subset of nodes of the plurality of nodes is assigned as a point guard node, and wherein the point guard node is configured to:

receive a custom Zigbee unicast message from the network controller, the custom Zigbee unicast message comprising a payload that comprises identifiers of one or more nodes of the subset of nodes and a control command for the one or more nodes,

wherein the network controller is configured to transmit the custom Zigbee unicast message in response to receiving an instruction to control the one or more nodes of the subset of nodes, and wherein the control command is associated with the instruction;

generate an InterPAN broadcast message using the payload of the custom Zigbee unicast message;

encrypt the InterPAN broadcast message to create an encrypted InterPAN broadcast message; and

broadcast the encrypted InterPAN broadcast message to a remainder of the one or more nodes of the subset of nodes that are within a radio range of the point guard node.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the InterPAN broadcast message is encrypted using a network key that is known to each of the plurality of nodes.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network controller randomly assigns the node from the subset of nodes as the point guard node.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the point guard node is configured to broadcast the encrypted InterPAN broadcast message as a one hop broadcast message.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network controller assigns the node that has a highest received signal strength indication (RSSI) value from the subset of nodes as the point guard node.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the node is manually assigned as the point guard node by an end user.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the InterPAN broadcast message comprises headers of a media access control layer and a physical layer of an 802.15.4 standard and is devoid of a Zigbee networking overhead.

8. The system of claim 1 ,

wherein the remainder of the one or more nodes are configured to receive and decrypt the InterPAN broadcast message, and

wherein responsive to decrypting the encrypted InterPAN broadcast message, the remainder of the one or more nodes act on the control command associated with the remainder of the one or more nodes provided an identifier of the one or more nodes is present among the identifiers in the payload of the InterPAN broadcast message.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the remainder of the one or more nodes is selected to re-broadcast the InterPAN broadcast message based on a position of an identifier of the at least one of the remainder of the one or more nodes in the payload of the InterPAN broadcast message.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nodes comprises lighting devices, the lighting devices comprising wireless communication modules.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium stored in a network controller that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of nodes that form a wireless mesh network, the computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed by a processor of the network controller system causes the network controller to perform a method comprising:

receiving an instruction to control one or more nodes of a subset of nodes of the plurality of nodes; and

responsive to receiving the instruction, transmitting a custom Zigbee unicast message to a node of the subset of nodes, the custom Zigbee unicast message comprising a payload that comprises the instruction and identifiers associated with the one or more nodes of the subset of nodes that are to be controlled based on the instruction,

wherein the node of the subset of nodes is assigned as a point guard node that is configured to generate an InterPAN broadcast message using the payload of the custom Zigbee unicast message and broadcast the InterPAN broadcast message as a one hop broadcast message to a remainder of the one or more nodes of the subset of nodes that are within a radio range of the point guard node.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the network controller is communicatively coupled to a node control device, and wherein the network controller is configured to receive the instruction from the node control device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the node control device comprises at least one of a control switch and a sensor, and wherein the sensor comprises an occupancy sensor.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of nodes comprises lighting devices.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the network controller is configured to assign the point guard node, and wherein the node that is assigned as the point guard node is a centrally located node in the subset of nodes.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the point guard node is manually assigned by a user.

17. A system comprising:

a plurality of lighting devices that form a wireless network and that are communicatively coupled to a network controller, wherein a lighting device of a subset of lighting devices of the plurality of lighting devices is assigned as a primary point guard node, and wherein the primary point guard node is configured to:

receive a first custom Zigbee unicast message from the network controller, the first custom Zigbee unicast message comprising a first payload that comprises identifiers of one or more lighting devices of the subset of lighting devices and an instruction to control the one or more lighting devices,

wherein the identifiers of the one or more lighting devices in the first payload are arranged in a first order, and

wherein the network controller is configured to transmit the first custom Zigbee unicast message in response to receiving the instruction to control the one or more lighting devices of the subset of lighting devices;

generate a first InterPAN broadcast message using the first payload of the first custom Zigbee unicast message; and

broadcast the first InterPAN broadcast message to a remainder of the one or more lighting devices of the subset of lighting devices that are within a radio range of the primary point guard node,

wherein at least one of the remainder of the one or more lighting devices is selected to re-broadcast the first InterPAN broadcast message based on a position of an identifier of the at least one of the remainder of the one or more lighting devices in the first payload of the first InterPAN broadcast message.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein another lighting device of the subset of lighting devices of the plurality of lighting devices is assigned as a back-up point guard node, and wherein the back-up point guard node is configured to:

receive a second custom Zigbee unicast message from the network controller, the second custom Zigbee unicast message comprising a second payload that comprises the identifiers of the one or more lighting devices of the subset of lighting devices and the instruction to control the one or more lighting devices,

wherein the identifiers of the one or more lighting devices in the second payload are arranged in a second order that is different from the first order, and

wherein the network controller is configured to transmit the second custom Zigbee unicast message in response to receiving the instruction to control the one or more lighting devices of the subset of lighting devices;

generate a second InterPAN broadcast message using the second payload of the second custom Zigbee unicast message;

broadcast the second InterPAN broadcast message to a remainder of the one or more lighting devices of the subset of lighting devices that are within a radio range of the back-up point guard node,

wherein at least one of the remainder of the one or more lighting devices is selected to re-broadcast the second InterPAN broadcast message based on a position of an identifier of the at least one of the remainder of the one or more lighting devices in the second payload of the second InterPAN broadcast message.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one of the remainder of the one or more lighting devices that is selected to re-broadcast the second InterPAN broadcast message is different from the at least one of the remainder of the one or more lighting devices that is selected to re-broadcast the first InterPAN broadcast message.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the primary point guard node and the back-up point guard node are manually assigned, and wherein the wireless network is a wireless mesh network.