INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION NODE OBJECT BEACON FRAMEWORK IN A MOBILE AD HOC NETWORK
(19)AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE(54) Title INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION NODE OBJECT BEACON FRAMEWORK IN A MOBILE AD HOCNETWORK(21) Application No: 2003268176 (22) Application Date: 2003.08.25(87) WIPONo: WOCM/023241 (30) Priority Data (31) Number (32) Date (33) Country 10/235,242 2002.09.04US(43) Publication Date : 2004.03.29(43) Publication Journal Date : 2004.05.13(71) Applicant(s) HARRIS CORPORATION(72) Inventor(s) KENNEDY, Robert, A. (H) Application NoAU2003268176 A1(19)AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE(54) Title INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION NODE OBJECT BEACON FRAMEWORK IN A MOBILE AD HOCNETWORK(21) Application No: 2003268176 (22) Application Date: 2003.08.25(87) WIPONo: WOCM/023241 (30) Priority Data (31) Number (32) Date (33) Country 10/235,242 2002.09.04US(43) Publication Date : 2004.03.29(43) Publication Journal Date : 2004.05.13(71) Applicant(s) HARRIS CORPORATION(72) Inventor(s) KENNEDY, Robert, A. The mobile ad hoc network includes a plurality of wireless mobile nodes and a plurality of wireless communication links connecting the nodes together. The method includes node advertisement, or group of mobile nodes, in the mobile ad hoc network. The group of mobile nodes includes a temporary or permanent association of two or more of the plurality of mobile nodes. The method includes transmitting node/group information using a beacon signal, determining a node/group condition of the corresponding mobile node or group of nodes, and varying the beacon signal based upon the determined condition. A method for node advertisement in a mobile ad hoc network (10) comprising a plurality of wireless mobile nodes (12) and a plurality of wireless communication links (14) connecting the nodes (12) together, the method comprising:
transmitting node condition information from a given mobile node (12) using a beacon signal (106); determining a node condition of the given mobile node (102); and varying the beacon signal based upon the determined node condition (104); A method according to Claim 1 wherein varying the beacon signal also comprises varying transmission rate. A method according to Claim 2 wherein the node condition includes node movement, and varying the beacon signal comprises increasing the transmission rate based upon increased node movement and decreasing the transmission rate based upon decreased node movement. A method according to Claim 2 wherein the node condition includes quality of service (QoS), and varying the beacon signal comprises changing at least one of the transmission rate, the transmission frequency and the transmission pattern based upon changes in QoS. A method according to Claim 2 wherein the node condition includes priority of information, and varying the beacon signal comprises changing at least one of the transmission rate, the transmission frequency and the transmission pattern based upon changes in priority of information. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the beacon signal further includes information relating to a condition of the mobile ad hoc network (10). A method for node advertisement by a group of mobile nodes in a mobile ad hoc network (10) comprising a plurality of wireless mobile nodes (12) and a plurality of wireless communication links (14) connecting the nodes (12) together, the group of mobile nodes comprising a temporary or permanent association of at least two of the plurality of mobile nodes, the method comprising:
transmitting group status information from at least one of the mobile nodes of the group using a beacon signal (106); determining a group condition of the group of mobile nodes (102); and varying the beacon signal based upon the determined group condition (104); A method according to Claim 7 wherein varying the beacon signal also comprises changing transmission rate. A method according to Claim 8 wherein the group condition includes quality of service (QoS), and varying the beacon signal comprises changing at least one of the transmission rate, transmission frequency and transmission pattern based upon changes in QoS. A method according to Claim 8 wherein the group condition includes priority of information, and varying the beacon signal comprises changing at least one of the transmission rate, transmission frequency and transmission pattern based upon changes in priority of information. A method according to Claim 7 wherein beacon signals are transmitted by a subset of mobile nodes of the group of mobile nodes, the subset comprising a range from one mobile node (12) to all the mobile nodes (12) of the group. A mobile ad hoc network (10) comprising:
a plurality of wireless mobile nodes (12); a plurality of wireless communication links (14) connecting the nodes (12) together; each mobile node (12) comprising a communications device (42) to wirelessly communicate with other nodes of the plurality of nodes via the wireless communication links, and a controller (44) to route communications via the communications device, and comprising a beacon signal generator (50) to generate and transmit condition information using a beacon signal; and a condition determining unit (52) to determine a condition of the mobile node (12); the beacon signal generator (50) varying the beacon signal based upon the determined condition of the mobile node (12) The network (10) according to Claim 12 wherein the beacon signal further includes information relating to a status of a group of mobile nodes (12), the group of mobile nodes (12) comprising a temporary or permanent association of at least two of the plurality of mobile nodes (12); wherein the condition determining unit further determines a condition of the group of mobile nodes (12); and wherein the beacon signal generator varies the beacon signal based upon the determined condition of the group of mobile nodes (12). A network (10) according to Claim 12 wherein the beacon signal generator varies the beacon signal by also varying. A network (10) according to Claim 14 wherein the node condition includes quality of service (QoS), and the beacon signal generator (50) varies the beacon signal by at least one of changing the transmission rate and changing the transmission frequency based upon changes in QoS. A network (10) according to Claim 14 wherein the node condition includes priority of information, and the beacon signal generator (50) varies the beacon signal by at least one of changing the transmission rate and changing the transmission frequency based upon changes in priority of information.