IP Library Granted Patent US 12,621,863
Granted Patent B2
US 12,621,863 · App. 18/501,806 · Granted May 5, 2026

Adaptive transmission management based on link latency

Inventors: Jerome Bartier (Edinburgh, GB); Fabrice Monier (Bry-sur-Marne, FR); Yacine Khaled (Meudon, FR)
Assignee: ITRON, INC.
H04W74/0825H04L1/08H04L43/0852H04W84/18
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,621,863
App. No.
18/501,806
Granted
May 5, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various embodiments disclose a method comprising determining, by a first node, a first link latency associated with a second node based on a time period between consecutive slots in a unicast listening schedule for the second node; in response to the first node detecting a failure in transmitting a first frame to the second node, determining, by the first node based on the first link latency, a first backoff time; and in response to determining that the first backoff time has elapsed, retransmitting, by the first node, the first frame to the second node.

Claims (50)

1 . A method comprising:

determining, by a first node, a first link latency associated with a second node, wherein the first link latency includes a first length of a slot of a unicast listening schedule for the second node and a second length from an end of the slot to a next slot in the unicast listening schedule;

in response to the first node detecting a failure in transmitting a first frame to the second node, determining, by the first node based on the first link latency, a length of a first backoff duration; and

in response to determining that the first backoff duration has elapsed, retransmitting, by the first node, the first frame to the second node.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the first node, the unicast listening schedule from the second node.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the length of the first backoff duration based on the first link latency comprises determining a random value based on the first link latency.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the length of the first backoff duration is further based on a retry count for the first frame.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first link latency is a sum of the first length and the second length.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first node, a second link latency associated with a third node based on a time between consecutive slots in a unicast listening schedule for the third node;

in response to the first node detecting a failure in transmitting a second frame to the third node, determining, by the first node based on the second link latency, a length of a second backoff duration; and

in response to determining that the second backoff duration has elapsed, retransmitting, by the first node, the second frame from the first node to the third node.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the second link latency is different from the first link latency.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first node, a frame lifetime value associated with the second node based on the first link latency;

in response to the first node determining that a second backoff duration for a second frame has elapsed and prior to retransmitting the second frame to the second node, determining, by the first node, that a time period corresponding to the frame lifetime value has elapsed; and

in response to the first node determining that the time period corresponding to the frame lifetime value has elapsed, dropping, by the first node, the second frame and forgoing retransmitting the second frame.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the frame lifetime value associated with the second node based on the first link latency comprises multiplying the first link latency by a scaling factor.

10 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors at a first node device, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining a first latency period from a start of a first slot through an end of the first slot and to a start of a next slot in a unicast listening schedule of a second node device;

in response to detecting an unsuccessful attempt to transmit a first message to the second node device, determining a length of a first backoff duration based on the first latency period; and

in response to determining that the first backoff duration has elapsed, retransmitting the first message to the second node device.

11 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the first latency period is determined based on a sum of an inactive slot time from the first slot to the next slot and an active slot time for the first slot.

12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the length of the first backoff duration is further based on a retry count for the first message.

13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein determining the length of the first backoff duration based on the first latency period comprises determining a random value based on the first latency period.

14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a second latency period associated with a third node device based on a second unicast listening schedule for the third node device;

in response to detecting an unsuccessful attempt to transmit a second message to the third node device, determining a length of a second backoff duration based on the second latency period; and

in response to determining that the second backoff duration has elapsed, retransmitting the second message to the third node device.

15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14 , wherein the second latency period is different from the first latency period.

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

determining a message lifetime value associated with the second node device based on the first latency period;

in response to determining that a second backoff duration for a second message has elapsed and prior to retransmitting the second message, determining that a time period corresponding to the message lifetime value has elapsed; and

in response to determining that the time period corresponding to the message lifetime value has elapsed, dropping the second message without retransmitting the second message.

17 . A network device in a wireless 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:

determining a first link latency for a first neighboring network device, wherein the first link latency includes a first length of time of a slot in a unicast channel hopping schedule for the first neighboring network device and a second length of time from the slot to a next slot in the unicast channel hopping schedule;

in response to detecting a failure in sending a frame to the first neighboring network device, calculating a length of a first backoff duration based on first link latency; and

in response to determining that the first backoff duration has elapsed, resending the frame to the first neighboring network device via the transceiver.

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

determining, based on a length of time between consecutive transmission slots of a unicast channel hopping schedule for a second neighboring network device, a second link latency associated with the second neighboring network device;

in response to detecting a failure in sending a second frame to the second neighboring network device, calculating a length of a second backoff duration based on the second link latency; and

in response to determining that the second backoff duration has elapsed, resending the second frame to the second neighboring network device via the transceiver.

19 . The network device of claim 18 , wherein the second link latency is different from the first link latency.

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

calculating a frame lifetime value associated with the first neighboring network device based on the first link latency;

in response to determining that a second backoff duration has elapsed for a second frame and prior to resending the second frame, determining that a time period corresponding to the frame lifetime value has elapsed; and

in response to determining that the time period corresponding to the frame lifetime value has elapsed, dropping the second frame.

Assignments (2)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 15, 2025
From: ITRON, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 072870/0873 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2023
From: BARTIER, JEROME; MONIER, FABRICE; KHALED, YACINE
To: ITRON, INC.
Reel/Frame 065457/0719 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 17527020 · Nov 15, 2021
Related Publication 20240080896A1 · Mar 7, 2024
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