Method of and devices for inquiring address announce messages in a communication network

Abstract

A method of and network devices arranged for inquiring node device address information after commissioning of a network of communicatively interconnected node devices. A gateway device (2) broadcasts an inquiry message (M.sub.INQ) in the network, requesting each of the node devices (3, 4, 5) to transmit its node device address announce message (M.sub.ANN), after a time delay (Δ.sub.t1; Δ.sub.t.2) from receiving the inquiry message (M.sub.INQ). The gateway device (2) transmits an acknowledgement message (M.sub.ACK) to the node device addressed in a received node device address announce message (M.sub.ANN), indicating that the respective node device address announce message (M.sub.ANN) is received by the gateway device (2). A node device (4) may retransmit its node device address announce message (M.sub.ANN) until receipt of an acknowledgement message (M.sub.ACK). Received address information is stored by the gateway device (2) for control and communication purposes of the nodes in the network.

Claims

1. A method of inquiring a node device address announce message of a node device in a wireless mesh network of communicatively interconnected node devices, said network comprising a gateway device and a plurality of node devices, said method comprising the steps of: receiving, by said node device, an inquiry message broadcasted by said gateway device in said network, said inquiry message requesting each of said node devices to transmit its node device address announce message; transmitting, by said node device, after a time delay from receiving said inquiry message said node device address announce message; receiving, by said node device, an acknowledgement message from said gateway device; indicating that said node device address announce message is received at said gateway device; and wherein said step of transmitting by said node device of said node device address announce message is repeated, with a repetition rate, until receiving said acknowledgement message.

2. The method according to claim 1, where each address announce message is transmitted after one of a settable time delay and a random time delay.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said repetition rate is one of a settable repetition rate and a random repetition rate.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a maximum time delay and a minimum repetition rate is received with said inquiry message.

5. A method of inquiring a node device address announce message of a node device in a wireless mesh network of communicatively interconnected node devices, said network comprising a gateway device and a plurality of node devices, said method comprising the steps of: broadcasting, by said gateway device in said network an inquiry message, said inquiry message requesting each of said node devices to transmit its node device address announce message; receiving, by said gateway device said node device address announce message of a node device; transmitting, by said gateway device, an acknowledgement message to said node device addressed in said received node device address announce message, and storing, by said gateway device node device address information of said received node device address announce message.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said inquiry message is broadcasted after commissioning of said network.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein said inquiry message is broadcasted after a settable time interval after commissioning.

8. A node device arranged for inquiring a node device address announce message in a wireless mesh network of communicatively interconnected node devices, said network comprising a gateway device and a plurality of node devices, said node device comprising a transceiver and a controller for controlling said transceiver and providing data processing in said node device, wherein said transceiver and controller are arranged for: receiving, by said transceiver, of an inquiry message broadcasted by said gateway device in said network, said inquiry message requesting each of said node devices to transmit its node device address announce message; transmitting, by said transceiver, after a time delay from receiving said inquiry message, said node device address announce message, and receiving, by said transceiver, an acknowledgement message) from said gateway device indicating that said node device address announce message is received at said gateway device; wherein said transceiver repeats transmitting of said node device address announce message with a repetition rate, until receiving said acknowledgement message.

9. The node device according to claim 8, wherein said transceiver and controller are arranged for performing the method of claim 2.

10. A gateway device a arranged for inquiring a node device address announce message from a node device in a wireless mesh network of communicatively interconnected node devices, said network comprising said gateway device and a plurality of node devices, said gateway device comprising a transceiver and a controller for controlling said transceiver and providing data processing in said gateway device, and a data repository, wherein said transceiver and controller are arranged for: broadcasting, by said transceiver, in said network, an inquiry message, said inquiry message requesting each of said node devices to transmit its node device address announce message; receiving, by said transceiver, said node device address announce message of a node device; transmitting, by said transceiver, an acknowledgement message to said node device addressed in said received node device address announce message, and storing, by said controller, in said data repository, node device address information of said received node device address announce message.

11. The gateway device according to claim 10.

12. A computer readable storage medium storing computer program code instructions which, when loaded on to one or more processors, causes said one or more processors to perform the method in accordance with claim 1.

13. A computer readable storage medium storing computer program code instructions which, when loaded on to one or more processors, causes said one or more processors to perform the method in accordance with claim 5.

14. An electric or electronic device, such as a lighting device, comprising at least one node device according to claim 8.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 illustrates, schematically, a network of communicatively interconnected network node devices and a gateway device.

(2) FIG. 2 illustrates, in a sequence diagram, an example of a method of requesting and reporting node device address announce messages in a network of communicatively interconnected network node devices, in accordance with the present disclosure.

(3) FIG. 3 illustrates, schematically, a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a gateway device in accordance with the present disclosure.

(4) FIG. 4 illustrates, schematically, a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a node device in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIG. 1 illustrates, schematically, a network 1 of communicatively interconnected network node devices 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and a gateway device 2.

(6) By way of example, the network 1 shown in FIG. 1 is configured as a so-called Wireless Mesh Network, WMN, also commonly called Wireless Personal Area Network, WPAN, and is comprised of multiple network end nodes 3, 5, 8 and network relay nodes 4, 6 such as bridges and switches, for example. The nodes 3-8 may form part of electric or electronic networked devices. The wireless communication connections between the network devices 2-8 are indicated by dashed arrows 9. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in a general network architecture, node devices may also connect by wired communication links (not shown).

(7) The network end nodes 3, 5, 8 are generic for supporting data communication of a large variety of electric or electronic devices, either mobile or movable devices and/or non-mobile or stationary devices. Examples of such devices are lighting devices, in particular lighting devices comprising Light Emitting Diode, LED, lighting modules, equipment for mobile telephony and data communication, Customer Premises Equipment, CPE, Internet of Things, IoT, devices, sensor devices, such as sensors for measuring humidity, temperature, Infra Red, IR, radiation, Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, generally designated CO.sub.x, actuators, camera systems, alarm systems, etc.

(8) Network relay nodes 4, 6 may bridge a communication distance between neighbouring network end nodes 3, 5 or 5, 8 if such end nodes 3, 5, 8 are not capable of establishing a direct communication connection between these end nodes. It is noted that network relay nodes 4, 6 besides extending the network range, may also support data communication of a same variety of electric or electronic devices as mentioned above in connection with the end nodes 3, 5, 8. Further, an end node and relay node may be comprised in a single physical device. A node device may be mains or battery operated, for example.

(9) The gateway device 2 operates as a network control or coordinator device, which may provide access 11 to other networks, such as the Internet 10, for example. Such a network control or coordinator device is also called a backend or network access device. The gateway device 2 may be deployed in the network 1 or remote of the network 1. For communication purposes, the gateway 2 may comprise integrated transceiver equipment or a so-called communication dongle 12, that may directly connect to a data processing part of the gateway 2, for example by a universal serial bus, USB, port or the like, and comprises communication functionality for exchanging data packets or messages with the network nodes in the network 1.

(10) The network node devices 3-8 may communicate 9 directly with the gateway device 2 or as described above, messages or data packets may be relayed to the gateway device 2 via neighbouring network relay nodes 4 in the mesh network.

(11) The network node devices 3-8 are configured for exchanging data messages or data packets with one or a plurality of the node devices in their neighbourhood, using the same or a different transmission technology. Preferably, the network node devices 3-8 and the gateway 2, or the dongle 12, are configured to operate using a same communication technology or protocol. Non-limited examples of applicable transmission protocols are ZigBee™, Bluetooth™, Thread™, as well as WiFi based protocols and transmission protocols in accordance with a 3GPP standard, and wired bus networks such as DALI™ (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplex), and KNX (based systems), wired Ethernet, etc.

(12) Messages that are generated in a network node 3-8, and forwarded to the gateway 2, or the dongle 12, if applicable, are generally referred to as uplink messages or uplink traffic. Messages that are forwarded from the gateway 2 to a network node 3-8 are referred to as downlink messages or downlink traffic. When not explicitly mentioned, the node devices 3-8 are arranged for communicating messages or data packets in the network 1 of the present disclosure in either one or both of a unicast and broadcast transmission mode.

(13) FIG. 2 illustrates, in a sequence diagram, an example of a method of inquiring a node device address announce message from a node device in a network of communicatively interconnected network node devices, in accordance with the present disclosure. For clarity reasons, only three node devices 3, 4, 5 are shown in the sequence diagram. In FIG. 2, time is running from the top to the bottom of the sheet (not shown). In this example, after commissioning of the network 1, that is after installation and testing of the node devices and the gateway equipment and communication facilities of the network according to design objectives or specifications, the gateway device 2 broadcasts an inquiry message, M.sub.INQ, or inquiry data packet 21 in the network 1. The inquiry message 21 is directly received by the end node devices 3 and the relay node device 4, and is indirectly received by the end node device 5 through the network relay node device 4, for example. This inquiry message 21 may be broadcasted after a certain time interval after starting or ending commissioning of the network. For example, the inquiry message 21 may be broadcasted after a time interval of 15 minutes after ending commissioning of the network 1.

(14) Receipt of the inquire message 21 commands or causes the node devices 3-8 to announce their address information. The gateway device 2 may need to know any or both of the specific network address and/or Media Access Control, MAC, address of all node devices in the network in order to correctly control and communicate with these node devices.

(15) After a time delay, Δt.sub.1, 22 from receiving the inquiry message 21, node device 3 transmits, i.e. in a broadcast or unicast transmission mode, its node device address announce message, M.sub.ANN, or address announce data packet 23 in the network 1 for receipt by the gateway device 2. The node device address announce message 23 comprises address information of the node device 3 in the network 1 for communication and control purposes, such a specific or short network address and/or MAC address allocated to the respective node device 3.

(16) After a time delay, Δt.sub.2, 25 from receiving the inquiry message 21, node device 4 transmits, i.e. in a broadcast or unicast transmission mode, its node device address announce message, M.sub.ANN, or address announce data packet 26 in the network 1 for receipt by the gateway device 2. The node device address announce message 26 comprises at least one of the specific or short network address and/or MAC address allocated to the respective node device 4. In this example, it is assumed that Δt.sub.2>Δt.sub.1.

(17) The time delay may be specific for each node device 3-8. However, to prevent transmission overload or so-called broadcast storms in the network 1, each address announce message M.sub.ANN may be transmitted after one of a settable time delay, for example set by a network operator or administrator, or after a random time delay 22, 25, independently for each node device or a for a cluster of node devices. A maximum of this time delay may, for example, be determined by the node device itself, or is comprised in the inquiry message 21, as a special attribute, for example. This, to achieve that the address inquiry process will be completed within a certain time period.

(18) After receipt at the gateway 2 of the node device address announce message 23 of the node device 3, an acknowledgement message, M.sub.ACK, or acknowledgement data packet 24 is transmitted by the gateway device 2 to the node device 3. This acknowledgement or confirmation message 24 may be directed, for example in unicast mode, to the respective network address or MAC address of the node device 3. All received node device address information is stored by the gateway device 2.

(19) After receiving the acknowledgement message 24 from the gateway device 2, the node device 3 knows that its node device address announce message 23 is successfully received at the gateway device 2, and may terminate its registration or announce mode of operation.

(20) Turning to node device 4. If within a certain time period Δt.sub.r after transmission of the address announce message 26 no acknowledgement message M.sub.ANN of the gateway 2 is received by the node device 4, the node device 4 will retransmit its node device address announce message 26. This retransmission may be repeated with a fixed or settable or random repetition rate or repetition time or time delay, i.e. Δt.sub.r, independent of previous time delays and independent of other node devices, until an acknowledgment message 28 is received by the node device 4. In the exceptional case, when no acknowledgment message 27 is received after a certain amount of attempts, such as ten attempts, or after a certain time threshold, such as 30-60 minutes, the node device 3 may stop sending its node device address announce message 26. Again, for avoiding transmission overload or broadcast storms in the network 1, a minimum repetition rate or repetition time may be received by a node device as a special attribute of the inquiry message 21, for example.

(21) Although not shown in FIG. 2, the node device 5 will also broadcasts its address announce message into the network 1 after receipt of the inquiry message 21.

(22) In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a so-called Device Announce Re-transmitter Cluster is defined, implementing an interface for a gateway device to request address announce messages or packets of network nodes. The cluster identifier, written in programming language C and hexadecimal notation, is shown in Table 1.

(23) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Cluster identifier Identifier Name 0xFD06 Device Announce Re-transmitter

(24) This cluster does not have any dependencies on other clusters and, in this example, does not contain specific attributes. The command identifiers, IDs, that can be received by the cluster are shown in table 2. In this example, a dongle 12 is used connected to the gateway device 2, and the node devices 3-8 are lighting device nodes, and more specific LED lighting nodes. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in a general network architecture, it is not necessary to use a dongle 12 and all types of node devices can be used, such as mentioned above, for example.

(25) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Command identifier that can be received by the cluster ID Description M/O 0x00 ZCL_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS_COMMAND_ID M 0x01 ZCL_REPORT_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS_COMMAND_ID M 0x02 ZCL_DONGLE_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS_REPLY_ID M

(26) The ZCL_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS message, M.sub.INQ, is an inquiry message from the dongle to the node(s) in the network, requesting each node to announce its MAC address back to the dongle by unicast or broadcast. Attributes of the ZCL_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS message are shown in Table 3. In Table 3, ‘Max random delay to response (seconds)’ indicates the maximum random delay time value in seconds before the lighting nodes send a response message. ‘Response message Type’ indicates the type of lighting node response message, either unicast or broadcast. ‘Timeout to Repeat Response’ indicates the time out for the lighting node to resend or retransmit a response message.

(27) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Attributes ZCL_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS command message Octet 1 2 3 4 Data Type Uint8 Uint8 Uint8 Uint8 Field Name Command Id Max random delay Response Timeout to to response (seconds) message Type Repeat Response Value 0x00 0x00-0xFF 0x00 (Unicast) 0x00-0xFF Default: 0xC8 0x01 (Broadcast) Default: 0x3C

(28) The ZCL_REPORT_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS message represents the address announce message, M.sub.ANN, transmitted by a node device in response to the receipt of the inquiry message, M.sub.INQ. Attributes of the ZCL_REPORT_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS message, M.sub.ANN, are shown in Table 4.

(29) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Attributes ZCL_REPORT_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS message Octet 1 2-9 Data Type Uint8 Address Field Name Command Id MAC Address (Little Endian) Value 0x01

(30) The ZCL_DONGLE_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS_REPLY message represents the acknowledgement or confirmation message, M.sub.ACK, transmitted by the gateway device in response to the receipt of the address announce message of a respective node device. Table 5 shows attributes of the ZCL_DONGLE_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS_REPLY message.

(31) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Attributes ZCL_DONGLE_GET_NODE_DEVICE_ADDRESS_REPLY Octet 1 Data Type Uint8 Field Name Command Id Value 0x02

(32) FIG. 3 illustrates, schematically, a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a gateway device 30 in accordance with the present disclosure. The gateway 30 comprises a transceiver, Tx/Rx, module 31 arranged for a wireless 32 or wired 33 exchange of messages or data packets with node devices in a network of communicatively interconnected network node devices. The transceiver 31 may be configured to operate in accordance with any of the data communication technologies and protocols mentioned above with reference to FIG. 1, in one or both of a broadcast and unicast mode of operation. The transceiver 31, or a separate transceiver (not shown) may be arranged 34 for data exchange with other networks, such as the Internet, for example.

(33) The gateway device 30 further comprises at least one data processor or controller 35, and at least one data repository or storage or memory 36, among others for storing computer program code instructions which, when loaded and run on to the one or more processor or controller 35, configure the gateway 30 to operate in accordance with the method of the present disclosure. Address information 37 received from node devices in the network may be stored in the repository 36, or a separate memory or storage accessible to the at least one processor or controller 35. The at least one processor or controller 35 communicatively interacts with and controls the transceiver 31 and the at least one repository or storage 36 via an internal data communication bus 38 of the gateway device 30.

(34) Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 3, a dongle 12 may connect to the bus 38 for performing the address inquiry processing in accordance with the present disclosure.

(35) FIG. 4 illustrates, schematically, a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a node device in accordance with the present disclosure. The node device 40 comprises a transceiver, Tx/Rx, module 41 arranged for a wireless 42 or wired 43 exchange of messages or data packets with a gateway and/or other node devices, inclusive relay node devices, in a network of communicatively interconnected network node devices. The transceiver 41 may be configured to operate in accordance with any of the data communication technologies and protocols mentioned above with reference to FIG. 1, in one or both of a broadcast and unicast mode of operation.

(36) The node device 40 further comprises at least one data processor or controller 45, and at least one data repository or storage or memory 46, among others for storing computer program code instructions which, when loaded and run on to the one or more processor or controller 45, configure the node device 40 to operate in accordance with the present disclosure. Address information 47 of the node device in a network, inclusive its MAC address, may be stored in the repository 46, or a separate memory or storage accessible to the at least one processor or controller 45. The repository or storage 46 further may be arranged for storing device specific or settable time delays, repetition rates and other attributes in accordance with the present disclosure. The at least one processor or controller 45 communicatively interacts with and controls the transceiver 41 and the at least one repository or storage 46 via an internal data communication bus 48 of the gateway device 40.

(37) The node device 40 may be part of or operatively connect 44 to an electric or electronic device, such as lighting device 50, comprising a lighting module 51, preferably a LED lighting module, operation of which may be controlled by the node device 40 from or through a network gateway, or by a remote control device, for example. As mentioned above, instead of or in addition to a lighting device, a node device may control several other electric or electronic devices, operatively connected in a network in accordance with the present disclosure.

(38) Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the solution according to the present disclosure is applicable in a communication network comprising plural node devices and gateway devices, not limited to the number of nodes shown in the example of FIG. 1.

(39) Other variations to the disclosed examples can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed disclosure, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or transceiver or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable medium such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as a part of the hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope thereof.

(40) The present disclosure is not limited to the examples as disclosed above, and can be modified and enhanced by those skilled in the art beyond the scope of the present disclosure as disclosed in the appended claims without having to apply inventive skills.