Methods, systems, and apparatus for network communications and operation
Methods, apparatus, and techniques for communication network operation, and particularly communications between network nodes having multi-modal communication capabilities.
1. A method of communicating data, implemented in a network node having multi-mode communication capabilities including at least a first communication mode for exchanging data via a first communication network of the first communication mode, the first communication mode having a first data rate, and a second communication mode for exchanging data via a second communication network of the second mode, the second communication mode having a second data rate lower than the first data rate, the method comprising:
transmitting user plane data of the first communication mode via the first communication network using the first communication mode;
offloading control plane data of the first communication network for transmission via the second communication network;
transmitting the control plane data of the first communication network via the second communication network wherein the transmitting of control plane data via the second network comprises transmitting the control plane data to another node having multi-mode communication capabilities including at least the first communication mode and the second communication mode, wherein the other node is not a node in the first network, wherein the other node is a node in the second network and is a node of a third network of the first communication mode;
determining when a node of the third network is within communication range of a node of the first network via the first communication mode, and
transmitting user plane data to a node in the third network via the first communication mode responsive to such detection.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving user plane data of the first communication mode via the first communication network using the first communication mode; and
receiving control plane data of the first communication network via the second communication network using the second communication mode.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first communication mode is Wi-Fi and the second communication mode is one of XBee, ZigBee, and LoRa.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the offloading comprises offloading all of the control plane data of the first communication mode for transmission via the second communication network.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the offloading comprises configuring a Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) module of the first communication network to offload control plane data to the second communication network.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
using control plane data exchanged with a node in the third network via the second communication mode to enable the transmitting of user plane data to the node in the third network via the first communication mode.
7. A communication network node comprising:
a first radio configured to communicate with other nodes in a first communication network using a first communication mode having a first data rate;
a second radio configured to communicate with the other nodes in a second communication network using a second communication mode having a second data rate lower than the first data rate;
a network controller configured to:
cause the node to transmit user plane data in the first communication network via the first radio using the first communication mode;
offload control plane data of the first communication network for transmission via the second communication network;
cause the node to transmit the control plane data of the first communication network via the second radio wherein the control plane data is transmitted to another device having multi-mode communication capabilities including at least the first communication mode and the second communication mode, wherein the other node is not a node in the first network and wherein the other device is a node in the second network and is a node of a third network of the first communication mode;
determine when a node of the third network is within communication range of a node of the first network via the first communication mode, and
transmit user plane data to a node in the third network via the first communication mode responsive to such detection.
8. The communication network mode of claim 7 wherein the first communication mode is Wi-Fi and the second communication mode is one of XBee, ZigBee, and LoRa.
9. The communication network mode of claim 7 wherein the offloading comprises offloading all of the control plane data of the first communication mode for transmission via the second communication network.
10. The communication network mode of claim 7 wherein the network controller is a Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) module of the first communication mode.
11. The communication network mode of claim 7 wherein the network controller is further configured to:
use control plane data exchanged with a node in the third network via the second communication mode to enable the transmitting of the user plane data to the node in the third network via the first communication mode.