Application US20200007269

TECHNIQUES FOR MAINTAINING NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN WIRELESS MESH NETWORKS
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US20200007269

1. A computer-implemented method for increasing listen rates of nodes within a wireless mesh network to reduce communication latencies, the method comprising: (6) (4)

determining that a latency associated with communications across a plurality of intermediate nodes within the wireless mesh network should be reduced;

in response to determining that the latency should be reduced, increasing a first listen rate of a first node within the wireless mesh network from a first value to a second value;

transmitting a first packet to a first intermediate node included in the plurality of intermediate nodes, wherein the first packet indicates the second value and causes the first intermediate node to increase an associated listen rate from the first value to the second value; and

executing a packet exchange across the plurality of intermediate nodes, wherein increasing the second listen rate reduces the latency associated with communications across the plurality of intermediate nodes.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the latency should be reduced comprises determining that the packet exchange across the plurality of nodes should be performed within a first time interval. (0)

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first packet comprises an authentication request that includes a header indicating that the second listen rate should be increased to the second value. (0)

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first packet comprises an extensible authentication protocol over local area network (EAPOL) packet, and wherein the packet exchange comprises an EAPOL exchange between the first node and a network management entity. (0)

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: (0) (3)

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising causing the first intermediate node to transmit one or more additional packets to one or more intermediate nodes included in the plurality of intermediate nodes, wherein each of the one or more additional packets indicates the second value and causes an intermediate node to increase an associated listen rate from the first value to the second value. (0)

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first node is coupled to the wireless mesh network via the first intermediate node, and further comprising: (3) (3)

determining that the first node is no longer coupled to the wireless mesh network;

incrementing a first timer one or more times; and

periodically transmitting beacons to one or more child nodes coupled to the first node while the first timer increments the one or more times.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein periodically transmitting the beacons to the one or more child nodes causes the one or more child nodes to not perform a discovery process. (0)

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: (0) (2)

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: (0) (2)

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to increase listen rates of nodes within a wireless mesh network to reduce communication latencies by performing the steps of: (4) (4)

determining that a latency associated with communications across a plurality of intermediate nodes within the wireless mesh network should be reduced;

in response to determining that the latency should be reduced, increasing a first listen rate of a first node within the wireless mesh network from a first value to a second value;

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the step of determining that the latency should be reduced comprises determining that the packet exchange across the plurality of nodes should be performed within a first time interval to prevent an authentication procedure from timing out. (0)

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first packet comprises an extensible authentication protocol over local area network (EAPOL) packet that includes the second value within a header field. (0)

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: (0) (3)

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first node is coupled to the wireless mesh network via the first intermediate node, and further comprising the steps of: (0) (5)

determining that the first node is no longer coupled to the wireless mesh network;

incrementing a first timer one or more times;

periodically transmitting beacons to one or more child nodes coupled to the first node while the first timer increments the one or more times, wherein periodically transmitting the beacons to the one or more child nodes causes the one or more child nodes to not perform a discovery process;

determining that the first node has been assigned a network address that differs from a previous network address assigned to the first node; and

terminating beacon transmissions to the one or more child nodes.

16. A system, including: (4) (3)

a plurality of intermediate nodes included in a wireless mesh network;

a first intermediate node included in the plurality of nodes; and

a first node coupled to the first intermediate node and configured to perform the steps of: determining that a latency associated with communications across the plurality of intermediate nodes should be reduced,

in response to determining that the latency should be reduced,

increasing a first listen rate of the first node from a first value to a second value,

transmitting a first packet to the first intermediate node, wherein the first packet indicates the second value and causes the first intermediate node to increase an associated listen rate from the first value to the second value, and

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the packet exchange comprises an extensible authentication protocol over local area network (EAPOL) packet exchange that is performed between the first node and a network management entity to authenticate communications performed by the first node via the plurality of intermediate nodes. (0)

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the first node decreases the first listen rate from the second value to the first value in response to determining that a first timer has exceeded a first threshold value, and wherein the first intermediate node decreases the associated listen rate from the second value to the first value in response to determining that a second timer has exceeded a second threshold value. (0)

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the first node is coupled to the wireless mesh network via the first intermediate node, and further comprising: (0) (5)

determining that the first node is no longer coupled to the wireless mesh network;

incrementing a first timer one or more times;

determining that the first node has been assigned a network address that differs from a previous network address assigned to the first node; and

terminating beacon transmissions to the one or more child nodes.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the first node includes: (0) (2)

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Application US20200007269

TECHNIQUES FOR MAINTAINING NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN WIRELESS MESH NETWORKS

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