Granted Patent B2

US 12,395,259 · App. 18/501,454 · Granted Aug 19, 2025

Inventors: Thomas F. Uhling (Spokane Valley, WA); Keith Wayne Barnes (Waseca, MN); Howard Neal Brace (Waseca, MN); Imad Jamil (Beynes, FR)

Assignee: ITRON, INC.

H04J3/0638H04W56/001

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a first node in a mesh network at a first receive time, a first beacon from a second node in the mesh network, the first beacon including a first network time associated with the second node;

determining, by the first node, a first transmission time of a first unicast message to the second node based on (a) the first receive time, (b) the first network time, and (c) a unicast interval between consecutive unicast listening times on the second node; and

transmitting, by the first node, the first unicast message to the second node at the first transmission time.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

estimating, by the first node, a second receive time at which a second periodic beacon is to be received from the second node based on the first network time and the first receive time; and

determining, by the first node, a first listening window for the second periodic beacon based on the second receive time and at least one of a jitter uncertainty associated with timing jitter in the first node or the second node or a drift uncertainty associated with an anticipated drift in a correction of a timing error between the first node and the second node.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing, by the first node, the first network time and the first receive time in an entry for the second node in a neighborhood table.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first beacon includes a time slot number of the second node corresponding to the first network time.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the first node, a time slot number for transmitting the first unicast message based on the first transmission time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the first node, a second beacon from the second node at a second receive time, the second beacon including a second network time associated with the second node;

replacing, by the first node, the first network time with the second network time in an entry for the second node in a neighborhood table; and

replacing, by the first node, the first receive time with the second receive time in the entry for the second node in the neighborhood table.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first node, a current time slot number at the second node based on an elapsed time since the first receive time, a previous time slot number representing the first network time, and a time slot duration; and

determining the first transmission time further comprises determining an expected time slot number corresponding to the first transmission time based on the current time slot number and the unicast interval.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first node a second receive time at which a second unicast message from the second node is to be received based on a second network time that is transmitted via a second beacon to the second node;

determining, by the first node, a listening window for the second unicast message based on the second receive time and at least one of a first jitter uncertainty associated with timing jitter in the first node or the second node or a first drift uncertainty associated with an anticipated drift in timing between the first node and the second node; and

listening, by the first node, for the second unicast message during the listening window.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the second receive time comprises determining a first time slot number corresponding to the second receive time based on a second time slot number corresponding to the second network time and the unicast interval.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the listening window comprises:

determining a start time for the listening window that precedes the second receive time by a sum of the first jitter uncertainty and the first drift uncertainty; and

determining an end time for the listening window based on a sum of the second receive time, a duration of a synchronization header for the first unicast message, the first jitter uncertainty, and the first drift uncertainty.

11. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a first node device in a mesh network, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

retrieving, from a neighborhood table, a first local network time of a second node device of the mesh network, the first local network time having been included in a first periodic beacon received from the second node device;

retrieving, from the neighborhood table, a first reception time for the first periodic beacon;

determining a time at which to send a first unicast frame to the second node device based on (a) the first local network time of the second node device, (b) the first reception time, and (c) an interval between consecutive unicast listening times of the second node device; and

sending the first unicast frame to the second node device at the determined time.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise in response to receiving the first periodic beacon, storing the first local network time of the second node device and the first reception time in an entry in the neighborhood table associated with the second node device.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the first periodic beacon includes a messaging slot identifier of the second node device corresponding to the first local network time of the second node device.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise determining, based on the determined time, a messaging slot identifier in which the first unicast frame is to be transmitted.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the second node device and at a second reception time, a second periodic beacon that includes a second local network time of the second node device; and

updating the neighborhood table with the second local network time and the second reception time.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting a second periodic beacon to the second node device, the second periodic beacon including a second local time of the first node device;

determining an expected reception time of a second unicast frame from the second node device based on the second local time of the first node device;

determining a listening window for the second unicast frame based on the expected reception time and at least one of a first jitter uncertainty associated with timing jitter in the first node device or the second node device or a first drift uncertainty associated with an anticipated drift in timing between the first node device and the second node device; and

listening for the second unicast frame during the listening window.

17. A network device in a mesh network, comprising:

a transceiver;

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via the transceiver and from a neighboring network device in the mesh network at a first receive time, a first beacon message, the first beacon message identifying a first local time at the neighboring network device when the first beacon message was transmitted;

calculating a transmit time for a unicast message to be sent to the neighboring network device based on (a) the first receive time, (b) the first local time at the neighboring network device when the first beacon message was transmitted, and (c) a unicast interval between consecutive unicast listening slots on the neighboring network device; and

transmitting, using the transceiver, the unicast message to the neighboring network device at the transmit time.

18. The network device of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise updating an entry associated with the neighboring network device in a neighbor table with the first receive time and the first local time at the neighboring network device when the first beacon message was transmitted.

19. The network device of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise calculating a communication slot in which to transmit the unicast message based on the transmit time.

20. The network device of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:

calculating a listening window in which a second unicast message is anticipated to be received from the neighboring network device based on a second local time that is transmitted via a second beacon message to the neighboring network device; and

listening, using the transceiver, for the second unicast message during the listening window.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (28)