Smart personal area network management
地域：
WA
WA Seattle
摘要
Two or more personal area networks (or PANs) operating channel hopping schedules may be operated within a vicinity of one another with channel hopping schedules according to IEEE 802.15.4 that are separated by a frequency offset, and collisions between data transmitted by the respective devices of the networks may be avoided. Nodes of a first PAN transmit beacons identifying information regarding a first communications schedule. A node of a second PAN receives the beacon and establishes a second channel hopping schedule at the offset from the first communications schedule. Nodes of PANs may be programmed with communication modes that vary uplink or downlink slots based on quality-of-service or traffic requirements.
說明書
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In some networks, such as personal area networks (or “PAN”), time-slotted channel hopping (or “TSCH,” sometimes called time-synchronized channel hopping), is a medium access control (“MAC”) that is intended to coordinate all transmissions of packets (e.g., data) between nodes of the networks. Cells designated for nodes to transmit data within a PAN may hop in tandem over a set of channels, defined by a communications schedule or frequency plan that covers a plurality of timeslots that repeat over time, e.g., in a slotframe. All frame transmissions within a PAN occur in selected channels of the set of channels and in designated timeslots of the slotframe according to the communications schedule. Each cell of a communications schedule may correspond to a link between nodes of the PAN, which may be dedicated to communications between two specific nodes, or shared (or open) to communications between any numbers of nodes. When a node joins a PAN, the node is allocated a number of timeslots for communications with a coordinator node, or with any other nodes of the PAN.
權(quán)利要求
What is claimed is:1. A method comprising:establishing, by a first node of a first personal area network (PAN), a first channel hopping schedule for the first PAN, wherein the first channel hopping schedule comprises a plurality of channels and a plurality of timeslots; enabling communications between the first node of the first PAN and at least a second node of the first PAN in a first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots and a first channel of the plurality of channels, wherein enabling the communications between the first node of the first PAN and at least the second node of the first PAN comprises:transmitting, by at least the first node of the first PAN, a beacon comprising information regarding the first channel hopping schedule, wherein the beacon is transmitted during at least a second timeslot of the plurality of timeslots; receiving, by a first node of a second PAN, the beacon transmitted by at least the first node of the first PAN during the second timeslot of the plurality of timeslots; determining, by the first node of the second PAN, a first offset based at least in part on the information regarding the first channel hopping schedule; establishing, by the first node of the second PAN, a second channel hopping schedule for the second PAN based at least in part on the first channel hopping schedule and the first offset, wherein the second channel hopping schedule comprises the plurality of channels and the plurality of timeslots; and enabling communications between the first node of the second PAN and at least a second node of the second PAN in the first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots and in a second channel of the plurality of channels, wherein the first channel and the second channel are separated by the first offset. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first node of the first PAN is a first access point to one of the Internet or an intranet, andwherein the first node of the second PAN is a second access point to one of the Internet or the intranet. 3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second node of the first PAN is one of:an antenna; a camera including at least a shelf within a field of view; a cash register; a climate control system; a computer system; a gate sensor; an electronic label provided in association with the shelf, wherein the electronic label is configured to display a price of at least one item on the shelf; a light; a load sensor configured to sense a load on the shelf; a motion sensor; a power switch; a proximity sensor; a radiofrequency identification transmitter or receiver; or a turnstile. 4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first channel hopping schedule and the second channel hopping schedule is in accordance with a medium access control protocol according to IEEE 802.15.4. 5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a distance between the first node of the first PAN and the first node of the second PAN is less than an operational range of one of the first node of the first PAN or the first node of the second PAN. 6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first PAN and the second PAN is provided within a materials handling facility. 7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:receiving, by a first node of a third PAN, one or more of:the beacon transmitted by at least the first node of the first PAN during the first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots; or a beacon comprising information regarding the second channel hopping schedule transmitted by at least the first node of the second PAN during the first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots; determining, by the first node of the third PAN, a second offset based at least in part on at least one of the information regarding the first channel hopping schedule or the information regarding the first channel hopping schedule; establishing, by the first node of the third PAN, a third channel hopping schedule for the third PAN based at least in part on the first channel hopping schedule and the second offset, wherein the second channel hopping schedule comprises the plurality of timeslots and the plurality of channels; and enabling communications between the first node of the third PAN and at least a second node of the third PAN in the first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots and in a third channel of the plurality of channels, wherein the first channel and the third channel are separated by the second offset, and wherein the second offset is not the first offset. 8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of channels comprises at least sixty-four channels, andwherein each of the plurality of timeslots has a duration of approximately fifteen milliseconds. 9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second node of the first PAN is programmed with at least a first communication mode associated with a first quality-of-service or a first traffic requirement and a second communication mode associated with a second quality-of-service or a second traffic requirement, andwherein the information regarding the first channel hopping schedule specifies one of the first communication mode or the second communication mode. 10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first communication mode comprises one of a first number of uplink slots between the first node of the first PAN and the second node of the first PAN or a first number of downlink slots between the first node of the first PAN and the second node of the first PAN within the first channel hopping schedule, andwherein the second communication mode comprises one of a second number of uplink slots between the first node of the first PAN and the second node of the first PAN or a second number of downlink slots between the first node of the first PAN and the second node of the first PAN within the first channel hopping schedule. 11. The method of claim 9 , wherein enabling the communications between the first node of the first PAN and at least the second node of the first PAN further comprises:causing the second node of the first PAN to communicate with the first node of the first PAN in accordance with the first communication mode at a first time; transmitting, by the first node of the first PAN to the second node of the first PAN, a first command message instructing the second node of the first PAN to communicate with the first node of the first PAN in accordance with the second communication mode at a second time, wherein the second time follows the first time; and causing the second node of the first PAN to communicate with the first node of the first PAN in accordance with the second communication mode at a third time, wherein the third time follows the second time. 12. A system comprising:a first node of a first personal area network (PAN), wherein the first node of the first PAN comprises one or more processors that are configured to at least:establish a first channel hopping schedule for the first PAN, wherein the first channel hopping schedule comprises a plurality of channels and a plurality of timeslots; enable communications between the first node of the first PAN and at least a second node of the first PAN in a first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots and a first channel of the plurality of channels; and transmit a beacon comprising information regarding the first channel hopping schedule, wherein the beacon is transmitted during at least a second timeslot of the plurality of timeslots; and a first node of a second PAN, wherein the first node of the second PAN comprises one or more processors that are configured to at least:receive the beacon transmitted by at least the first node of the first PAN during the second timeslot of the plurality of timeslots; determine a first offset based at least in part on the information regarding the first channel hopping schedule; establish a second channel hopping schedule for the second PAN based at least in part on the first channel hopping schedule and the first offset, wherein the second channel hopping schedule comprises the plurality of channels and the plurality of timeslots; and enable communications between the first node of the second PAN and at least a second node of the second PAN in the first timeslot of the plurality of timeslots and in a second channel of the plurality of channels, wherein the first channel and the second channel are separated by the first offset. 13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first PAN further comprises a first plurality of devices,wherein each of the first plurality of devices is one of a camera, a load sensor, or an electronic display, wherein the second PAN further comprises a second plurality of devices, wherein each of the second plurality of devices is one of a camera, a load sensor, or an electronic display, and wherein a distance between the first node of the first PAN and the first node of the second PAN is less than an operational range of one of the first node of the first PAN or the first node of the second PAN. 14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first node of the first PAN is a coordinator of the first PAN, andwherein the first node of the second PAN is a coordinator of the second PAN. 15. The system of claim 12 , wherein each of the first channel hopping schedule and the second channel hopping schedule is in accordance with a medium access control protocol according to IEEE 802.15.4.
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