WO2018054372A1

WO2018054372A1 - Connection of mobile devices to networks

Info

Publication number: WO2018054372A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/103122
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiang Feng
Original assignee: Suzhou Daweier Wulianwang Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Suzhou Daweier Wulianwang Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-09-26
Filing date: 2017-09-25
Publication date: 2018-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-26

Abstract

Techniques described herein provide connection of mobile devices to networks. The techniques include establishing or detecting a connection based on a first communication mechanism between a first mobile device with a second mobile device. The first mobile device may transmit information of a channel hopping sequence to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the second mobile device sets an advertisement channel of the first mobile device as a receiving channel of the second mobile device. The second mobile device may receive an advertisement packet from the first mobile device based on the receiving channel of the second mobile device using a second communication mechanism, which is different from the second communication mechanism. The first mobile device may further facilitate connection to the second mobile device to the network using the received advertisement packet.

Description

CONNECTION OF MOBILE DEVICES TO NETWORKS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62399579, filed on September 26, 2016， entitled “CONNECTION OF MOBILE DEVICES TO NETWORKS, ” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirely.

BACKGROUND

A channel hopping mechanism, in general, refers to a method of transmitting radio signals by switching a channel among many frequency channels, using a sequence known to both transmitter and receiver. Because of the channel hopping mechanism, in existing networks, a new device either has to know the current network channel in advance or has to listen for a certain period of time in a certain physical channel and switches to a next channel until receiving a communication packet from thenetworks. Thus, the new device may not hear anadvertisement packet before its timeout. First of all, the advertisement packet may never be transmitted via a selected channel. Further, when the new device listens via a certain channel, the advertisement packet may be transmitted via another channel. To solves theproblems, conventional techniques generally broadcast advertisement packets as frequently as possibleand at as many frequency channels as possible to reduce the join time of a new device. However, this results in higher energy consumption and awaste of network bandwidth.

SUMMARY

Described herein are techniques forconnecting a mobile device to a channel hopping network. The various embodiments includeestablishing or detecting a connection based on a first communication mechanism between a first mobile device with a second mobile device. For example, the first mobile device is connected to a network, and the second mobile device is not connected to the network. The first mobile device may transmit information of a channel hopping sequence to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the second mobile device sets an advertisement channel of the first mobile device as a receiving channel of the second mobile device. The second mobile device may receive an advertisement packet from the first mobile device based on the receiving channel of the second mobile device using a second communication mechanism, which is different from the second communication mechanism. The first mobile device may further facilitate connection to the second mobile device to the network using the received advertisement packet.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit (s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same reference numbers in different figures indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative structure of a Time Synchronized Mesh Network (e.g., a WirelessHART network) .

FIG. 2is a diagram of an illustrative computing environmentthat enablesconnection of mobile devices to networks.

FIG. 3is schematic diagrams of illustrative computing architecturesassociated with theconnection of mobile devices to networks.

FIG. 4is a flow diagram of an illustrative process forconnection of mobile devices to networks.

FIG. 5 is diagrams illustrating acomparison between an existing network scenario and an improved network scenario.

FIG. 6 is a plot diagram showing joining times of devices in different scenarios.

FIG. 7 is a plot diagram showing joining times of devices in Emerson experimental platform.

FIG. 8 is a plot diagram showing joining times of devices in crowded streets.

FIG. 9 is a plot diagram showing joining times of devices in theplayground.

FIG. 10 is a plot diagram illustrating acomparison of joining time in different scenarios.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Wireless technology is a major technological innovation following digital Fieldbus and industrial Ethernet technology. As one of wireless sensor networks, WirelessHART has been widely used in industrial applications. However, the deployment of even a single device can take a long time in the industry from a few minutes to a few hours. To overcome this issue, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a new joining mechanism. By focusing on the data link layer, the new mechanism substantially shortens the joining process.

Illustrative Environment

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative structure of a Time Synchronized Mesh Network (e.g., a WirelessHART network) . The basic elements of a typical WirelessHART network include field devices that are attached to the plant process, a gateway that connects host applications with field devices, a network manager that is responsible for network configuration, scheduling and communication management, and a security manager that manages and allocates security encryption keys.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are a popular topic nowadays in the field of high-tech, highly interdisciplinary and highly integrated into the international arena. With the demand for wireless transmission capabilities for most industrial instrumentation and automation products, wireless sensor technology has been introduced into process control industry. Wireless technology has been regarded as a paradigm shifter in the process industry. The wireless technology employed in the WSNs is another major technological innovation following digital Fieldbus and industrial Ethernet technology in the field of industrial automation.

WirelessHART is a wireless networking technology that has been widely used in industrial applications, e.g., industrial process monitoring, Health Safety and Environment (HSE) applications, Asset Management Systems. These applications usually have stringent requirements regarding the time of deploying networks. For example, in the manufacturing industry, the deploying time from a few minutes to a few hours, the engineer from EMERSON process management said, which not only greatly influence the effectiveness of the technology promotion, but also delay the time for network installation, commissioning and diagnosis. To improve the speed of joining the network, various methods have been proposed, such as increasing the frequency of advertisement packets (ADVs) . However, all of these methods focus on the surface.

Some embodiments relate to a new joining method that helps the sensor nodes join the network faster than those using conventional method. For example, the new joining method may allow a sensor node to join the network consistently less than 10 seconds.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative environment 200 that enables connection of a mobile device to a network. The environment 200 includes a network service 202 including a set of related software functionalities that may be reused for different purposes, together with the policies that, for example, facilitates wireless network communications in a network 218. For example, the network service 202 may facilitate wireless mesh communications for process automation applications. The network 218 may include any one of a WirelessHART, ISA100, 6Tisch, WIA-PA and other Time-Synchronized Mesh Networks.

The network service 202 may include a gateway 204 and a network manager 206. The gateway 204 may include a number of different types of components, which may be provided by various companies. In some implementations, the gateway 204 enables communication via an or multiple access point208 between devices (e.g., a mobile device 210 and a mobile device 212) and host applications connected to a high-speed backbone or other existing plant communication networks. The network manager 206may configure thenetwork 218, schedule time slots, generate message routes, and monitor network health.

Through the access point 208, the mobile device 210 may communicate with the network manager 206 using a communication mechanism 214 (e.g., a wireless manner) . The mobile device 210 or the mobile device 212 includes any type of device having a component for communicating with one or more other devices via one or more communication channels including, for example, wireless communication channels, such as infra-red, RF, optical, terrestrial, satellite communication media, and wired communication channels, such as copper wires, coaxial cables, Fiber-optic cables. Examples of mobile devices may include mobile telephones/smartphones, netbooks, tablet computers, personal computers, data sticks, network adapters, and other electronic devices that may exchange signals, such as radio signals. In some implementations, the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are in Time Synchronized Mesh Network such as Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol (WirelessHART) , devices, and the network 218 is a Time Synchronized Mesh Network. In some other implementations, the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are ISA100 devices, and the network 218 is an ISA100 network. In some other implementations, the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are 6Tisch devices, and the network 218 is a 6Tischnetwork. In some other implementations, the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are WIA-PA devices, and the network 218 is a WIA-PA network.

In some implementations, the mobile device 210 may have joined the network 218 associated with the network service 202, while the mobile device 212 has not joined the network 218. In these instances, the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 may initializea connection based on a communication mechanism 216 (e.g., a wired manner) .

Further, the mobile device 210 may transmit the upcoming channel hopping sequence of ADVs of the mobile device 210 with or without related timing information (e.g., when each value of the sequence will be chosen to be the channel) to the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 216 such that the mobile device 212 may choose a subset of the channel hopping sequence and set the receiving channel of the mobile device 212 in the chronological order of the subset.

The mobile device 212 may receive an advertisement packet from the mobile device 210 based on the receiving channel of the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 214 when the mobile device 210 hops through the channels according to the sequence transmitted to the mobile device 212. In these instances, the communication mechanism 216is different from the communication mechanism 214. Further, the mobile device 210 may enable the connection of the mobile device 212 to the network 218. For example, the mobile device 210 may connect the mobile device 212 tothe network 218 using a response packet generated by the mobile device 212. The response packet corresponds to the received advertisement packet.

Illustrative Architectures

FIG. 3 is schematic diagrams of illustrative computing architectures associated with theconnection of mobile devices to networks. The computing architecture 300 shows additional details of at least one portion of the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212, which may include additional modules, kernels, data, and/or hardware.

In various embodiments, the mobile device 210 may include at least one processor 302and memory 304. Depending on the exact configuration and type of a computing device, memory 304may be volatile, such as RAM, non-volatile, such as ROM, flash memory, or some combination of the two. The memory 304may store an operating system 306, one or more program modules, and may include program data 308. The mobile device 212 may include at least one processor 318 and memory 320. Depending on the exact configuration and type of a computing device, memory 320 may be volatile, such as RAM, non-volatile, such as ROM, flash memory, or some combination of the two. The memory 320 may store an operating system 322, one or more program modules, and may include program data 324.

The mobile devices210 and 212 may further include additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. The memory 304or 318 are all examples of computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which may be used to store the desired information and which may be accessed by the mobile device 210 or the mobile device 212. Any such computer-readable storage media may be part of the mobile device 210 or the mobile device 212.

In various embodiment, any or all of the memory 304 may store programming instructions which, when executed, implement some or all of the above-described operations of the mobile device 210, the mobile device 212, or other components described in the environment 200 shown in Fig. 2. In some implementations, the memory 304 may include an application 316 that enables connection of mobile devices to a network.

The application 316 may include various modules such as a frequency channel table 310, a device joining module 312, and a networking module 314.

The frequency channel table 310 may be configured to store a channel hopping sequence. The frequency channel table 310 may be generated either locally by the mobile device 210, or externally in other components of the network 218 such as the network manager 206. For example, the channel hopping sequence may indicate one or more hopping patterns of frequency channels via which the mobile device210 communicates with other devices in the network 218. In some implementations, the network 218 is a mesh network (e.g., WirelessHART network) , and the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are mesh networkdevices. In some implementations, the network 218 is an ISA100network, and the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are ISA100devices.

The device joining module 312 may be configured to initialize or detect a connection based on the communication mechanism 216 between the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212. In these instances, the mobile device 210 has connected tothe network 218, and the mobile device 212 has not been connected tothe network 218. The mobile device 210 may transmit information of an upcoming channel hopping sequence of ADVs to the mobile device 212. For example, the device joining module 312 may communicate with an application 326 stored in the memory 320 of the mobile device 212. The application 326 may hop the channel of the mobile device 212 according to the sequence transmitted from the mobile device 210.

The device joining module 312 may transmit the upcoming channel hopping sequence of ADVs of the mobile device 210 to the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 216 such that the application 326 of the mobile device 212 may choose a subset of the channel hopping sequence andset a receiving channel of the mobile device 212in the chronological order of the subset. In these instances, the communication mechanism 214 is different from the communication mechanism216. For example, the communication mechanism 214 may be implemented by a Bluetooth protocol, an infrared protocol, or a wireless protocol. In some implementations, the communication mechanism 216 may include a wired communication, and the communication mechanism 214 may include a wireless communication. For example, the device joining module 312 may transmit the information of the channel hopping sequence of the mobile device 210 to a Frequency-Shift Keying (FSK) , orPhase-Shift Keying (PSK) , or RS232, or RS485 terminal of the mobile device 212 via a wired cable.

In some implementations, the connection based on the communication mechanism 216 between the mobile device 210 and the mobile device212 (e.g., the wired cable) may be disconnected after the transmission of the channel hopping sequence of ADVs. In some instances, the connection may be disconnected after the transmission of the information of the channel hopping sequence but prior to the connection of the mobile device 212 with the network. In some instances, the device joining module 312 may further synchronize an internal clock of the mobile device210and an internal clock of the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 216 to compare and synchronize the internal clocks. Further, the value of the internal clock of the mobile device 110is different from the value of the internal clock of the mobile device 212 before the synchronizing of the internal clock of the mobile device.

In some implementations, the mobile device 212 may fix its receiving channel to a single value of the channel hopping sequence. So, when the transmitting channel of the mobile device 210 traverses the channel hopping sequence and reaches this fixed value, the mobile device 212 may be able to hear the mobile device 210 and receive the advertisement packet of the mobile device 210.

In some implementations, the mobile device 212 may set its receiving channel to a subset of the channel hopping sequence in the same chronological order. So, when the transmitting channel of the mobile device 210 traverses the channel hopping sequence, and the receiving channel of the mobile device 212is set to a value no later than the current value in the channel hopping sequence of the mobile device 210, the mobile device 212 may be able to hear the mobile device 210 and receive the advertisement packet of the mobile device 210. In these instances, the mobile device 212 may not always be able to hear the mobile device 210 even when they are communicating on a certain frequency channel. For example, various noisessuch as random electronic and magnetic waves may interfere with this channel. By hopping on a subset of the sequence (e.g., a series of channels) , the probability of the mobile device 212 to hear the mobile device 210 is enhanced.

For example, the channel hopping sequence of the mobile device 210 is ( (11, 2) , (3, 20) , (7, 34) , (4, 45) , (15, 60) , (8, 72) , (2, 88) ) , which may be represented by (x, y) . Here, xrepresents a channel number and y representsa time slot number. The time slot number can be either Absolute Slot Number (ASN) or other time slot numbers indicating the timing sequence. The mobile device 212 maygenerate a subset such as ( (11, 2) , (7, 34) , (15, 60) , (2, 88) ) based on the (x, y) . Thus, the mobile device 212 mayset its receiving channel to channel 11 before time slot 2. If the mobile device 212 doesn’t hear the mobile device 210 after time slot 2, the mobile device 212 may then move on to the next value of the subset, which is channel 7, and wait till time slot 34. This operation may be repeated until the mobile device 212 successfully hears the mobile device 210 or the subset is exhausted. Further, the receiving channel of the mobile device 212may be set to a value in the subset, whose corresponding time slot value is no less than the current time slot. Thus, the mobile device 210 mayperform transmission on the same channel as the mobile device 212.

The networking module 314 may be configured to connect the mobile device 212 with the network 218 using the received advertisement packet. For example, the networking module 314 may receive a join request from the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 214. In these instances, the join request includes a join key of the mobile device 212. The networking module 314 may transmit the join request to the network manager 106 of the network 218 and facilitate the remaining joining process.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 4is a flow diagram of an illustrative process 400 forconnection of mobile devices to networks. The process400 is illustrated as a collection of blocks in a logical flow graph, which represents a sequence of operations that may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the blocks represent computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the recited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. The order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described blocks may be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement the process.

The process 400is described with reference to the computing environment 200, as well as the computing architecture 300. However, the process 400 may be implemented inother environments, and/or computing architecture.

At 402, one or more processors of the mobile device 210may initialize or detect a connection based on the communication mechanism 216 between the mobile device 210 with the mobile device212. The mobile device 210 has connected to a network, while the mobile device 212 has not connected with the network 218. In some implementations, the network 218 is a WirelessHART network, and the mobile device 210 and the mobile device 212 are WirelessHART devices.

In some implementations, the communication mechanism 214 may be implemented by a Bluetooth protocol, an infrared protocol, or a wireless protocol. For example, the communication mechanism 216 is a wired communication, while the communication mechanism is a wireless communication. For example, a wired connection may be established between the mobile device 210 with the mobile device 212 via a wired cable.

At 404, the one or more processors of the mobile device 210 may transmit information of a channel hopping sequence of ADVs to the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 216. For example, the one or more processors of the mobile device 210 may transmit the information of the channel hopping sequence of the mobile device 210 to an FSK or PSK terminal of the mobile device 212 via a wired cable. In some embodiments, the channel hopping sequence may indicate one or more hopping patterns of frequency channels via which the mobile device 210 communicates with other devices in the network 218.

At 406, one or more processors of the mobile device 212 may receivethe channel hopping sequence from the mobile device210.

At 408, the one or more processors of the mobile device 212 may choose a subset of the channel hopping sequence. For example, the mobile device 212 may generate a subset of the channel hopping sequence in the same chronological order of the channel hopping sequence received from the mobile device 210.

At 410, the one or more processors of the mobile device 212 may set a receiving channel of the mobile device 212 using the subset of the channel hopping sequence. In some implementations, the mobile device 212 may fix or set its receiving channel to a single value of the channel hopping sequence. When the transmitting channel of the mobile device 210 traverses the channel hopping sequence and reaches this fixed value, the mobile device 212 may hear the mobile device 210 and receive the advertisement packet of the mobile device 210.

At 412, the one or more processors of the mobile device 212may initialize a connection between the mobile device 212 and the mobile device 210 via the communication mechanism 214 after the mobile device 212 hears the mobile device 210.

At 414, the one or more processors of the mobile device 210 may send out an advertisement packet of the mobile device 210 to the mobile device 212after the connection between the mobile device 212 and the mobile device 210 is initialized via the communication mechanism 214.

At 416, 212 may receive the advertisement packet of the mobile device 210.

At 418, the one or more processors of the mobile device 210 may connect the mobile device 212 with the network 218 using the received advertisement packet. For example, the networking module 314 may receive a join request from the mobile device 212 using the communication mechanism 214. In these instances, the join request includes a join key of the mobile device 212. The networking module 314 may transmit the join request to the network manager 106 of the network 218 and facilitate the remaining joining process.

Illustrative Embodiments

In some embodiments, both WirelessHART and ZigBee are based on the IEEE 802.15.4 physical layer. While ZigBee uses the existing IEEE 802.15.4 MAC, WirelessHART goes one step further to define its own MAC protocol and introduces one distinct feature of WirelessHART, that is time-synchronized data link layer. With Time Slotted Channel Hopping, the time is organized as a periodic sequence of slot frames, made by several timeslots. Each logical link is identified by a pair, (t_s, ch_of) , defining the timeslot, t_s, and the logical channel, ch_of, to be used in every slotframe for transmission on that link. Logical channels are translated into physical channels, that is:

f＝F { (ASN+ch_of) ％n_ch} Equation (1)

where ASN is the Absolute Slot Number, i.e., the total number of timeslots elapsed since the network deployment； the function F {…} , realized with a look-up-table, contains the set of available channels； and the value n_ch is the number of available physical frequencies. The ASN is incremented at each timeslot and shared by all devices in the network. So the same channel offset may be mapped to different physical channels in different slots.

When a network establishes, usually sink nodes will broadcast ADVs to announce network presence. The ADV provides enough information of existing network such as ASN value, channel hopping information, timeslot information, etc. A new device wants to join the network； it shall initialize the joining, then listen ADVs on one or all of available frequencies, and synchronize with the network. Once a joining node receives the ADVs, it has same ASN value with other synchronizer nodes and thus synchronizes to network following action schedule. After identifying one or more advertising neighbors, the joining device shall select one of them as aparent for its joining process. After becoming a synchronizer node, it continuously broadcasts ADVs to other new nodes for extending network.

Some embodiments enable network establishment on data link layer of WirelessHART protocol such that a new device listens for the ADVs rapidly and the joining speed, as well as the joining process, are improved.

In some embodiments, joining refers to the process used by a device to obtain access to the network and to become integrated into the network. For example, the steps for joining a new device into an operational network may include the following operations.

The mobile device 212 may be pre-configured by a maintenance tool towrite the network_ID and the Join_key into the mobile device 212.

The mobile device 212 locates the network service 202 with the matching network_ID and receives the ADVs from the network manager 206. The mobile device 212 makes use of the information in the ADVs to synchronize the network service 202 and establishes a secure channel between the mobile device 212 and the network manager 206 with the Join_key and communicates on the correct link.

The network manager 206 verifies the trustworthiness of the mobile device 212 through the device’s Identity, Long_tag, and Join_key. After the mobile device 212 is deemed trustworthy, the network manager 206 provides the session key and the network key to the joining device.

After security requirements for new devices have been met, the network manager 106 proceeds to integrate the mobile device 212 into the network service 202 by providing the mobile device 212 with normal super-frames and links.

However, it is the first and perhaps the most difficult thing for devices to join the network successfully. The deploying time of usual devices, as a result from EMERSON process management, from a few minutes to a few hours. In the existing network, online devices broadcast ADVs on random channels, and the mobile device 212 continues to listen for a period of time on a physical channel and then switch to the next channel, which is also random, until all the channels have been traversed or the process of joining begins. Due to the randomness of channel hopping, the probability of channel collision between mobile device 212 and online devices is decreasing, which leads to that it will take very long time to listen to ADVs for the new device or even may not be able to listen to ADVs before timeout. Further, there is an unknown delay from initiating join to join requests sent by the new device.

To solve the problems above, a usual approach is to use the ADVs as much as possible during the network formation phase. However, this approach is ineffective during actual use. Because the joining process is not all taking place in the formation of the network, and most of thenew devices join on the basis of the normal running network. In addition, due to the needs of energy-saving, the network manager 106 requires reducing the use of ADVs of intermediate devices as much as possible, which makes as much use of the ADVs as a contradiction.

FIG. 5 is diagrams illustrating acomparison between an existing network scenario and an improved network scenario. In the existing network, as shown in 502 of FIG. 5, there are four devices that want to join the network, which are Dev1, Dev2, Dev3, and Dev4. There are a number of barriers such as walls between devices, and the distance between adjacent devices is about 200m. In order to simulate the industrial field environment, the experiment is carried out on many scenarios, such as Emerson experimental platform, crowded street, and playground. The new device joins the network through the relay nodes. As depicted in 504 of FIG. 5, Dev1 (e.g., the mobile device 210) is a network device, and Dev2 (e.g., the mobile device 212) wants to join the network. The experiment for every device in each scenario was repeated 100 times.

The design of the experimental scenarios above are the typical applications of the network topology. The measurement data is the joining time of the node, and the measurement parameter is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Measurement parameters

The joining time of each scenario in three cases was recorded. The bar chart illustrating the average value of joining time is shown in FIG. 6. It is observed from the graph that, the joining time of existing network is between 40s and 60s, and the joining time of improved scheme is lying in the range of 0-4s. This corroborates the fact that the joining time of all devices is less than the existing network technology.

During the experimentation, we used wireless network capture tool to obtain the messages of thenetwork. The results in FIGS. 7-10 show the comparison of joining time in three scenarios between existing technology and the improved method. In the existing network, the average joining time is about 40s, and the average time of joining after the improved method is about 2s. By contrast, it can be clearly seen that the joining time has been greatly reduced when the joining method of the node is improved. From the trend of the curve, we study that the distribution of joining time is relatively stable, and the distribution of joining time in the existing network technology has been changed greatly. Fig. 8 shows the comparison of joining time in three different scenarios. We found that the joining time is almost the same in the Emerson experimental platform and the crowded street, but behind the time of playground scenario.

As illustrated above, the comparison with the existing technology shows the potential efficiency and better performance of the embodiments presented herein. In the existing technology, the network manager 206 may use the Write Timer Interval command to write a notification interval to the mobile device 212. When the value is 0, it means that the ADV is sent as soon as possible. Further, when the value of the notification interval is 0xFFFFFFFF, it means to stop sending ADVs. To speed up the joining, the embodiments of the present disclosure reduce the time interval and speed up thefrequency of the network device sending an ADV.

Conclusion

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exampleforms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A method for joining a Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol (WirelessHART) network, the method comprising:

detecting a wired connection between a first mobile device anda second mobile device via a wired cable, the first mobile device having joined the WirelessHART network, the second mobile device having not joined the WirelessHART network；

transmitting information of a channel hopping sequence associated with advertising packets of the first mobile device to a hardware terminal of the second mobile device via the wired cable, the channel hopping sequence indicating the chronological order of transmitting frequency channels of the first mobile device；

generating a subset of the channel hopping sequence in the same chronological order of the channel hopping sequence；

setting a receiving channel of the second mobile device based on the subset of the channel hopping sequence；

initializing a wireless connection between the first mobile device and the second mobile device using the receiving channel of the second mobile device by receiving an advertisement packet by the second mobile device using awireless manner such as to synchronize an internal clock of the second mobile device with an internal clock of the first mobile device, a value of the internal clock of the second mobile device different from a value the internal clock of the second mobile device； and

establishing a connection between the second mobile device and the WirelessHART network using the received advertisement packet after the synchronizing of the internal clock of the second mobile device with the internal clock of the first mobile device.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

disconnecting the wired connection between the first mobile device and the second mobile device after the transmitting of the information of the channel hopping sequence.
A method comprising:

detecting a connection based on a first communication mechanism between a first mobile device with a second mobile device, the first mobile device having joined a network, and the second mobile device having not joined the network；

transmitting information of a channel hopping sequence of the first mobile device to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the second mobile device sets a receiving channel of the second mobile devicebased on a subset of the channel hopping sequence,

receiving an advertisement packet from the first mobile device based on the receiving channel of the second mobile device using a second communication mechanism, the second communication mechanism different from the first communication mechanism； and

connecting the second mobile device with the network using the received advertisement packet.
The method of claim 3, wherein the second communication is implemented by a Bluetooth protocol, an infrared protocol, or a wireless protocol.
The method of claim 3, wherein the first communication mechanism is a wired communication, and the second communication mechanism is a wireless communication.
The method of claim 3, wherein the detecting a connection based on the first communication mechanism the first mobile device with the second mobile device comprises detecting a wired connection between the first mobile device with the second mobile device via a wired cable.
The method of claim 3, wherein the network is a WirelessHART network, an ISA100 network, a 6Tisch network, or a WIA-PA network.
The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitting information of a channel hopping sequence of the first mobile device to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the second mobile device sets the receiving channel of the second mobile device based on a subset of the channel hopping sequence comprises transmitting the information of the channel hopping sequence of the first mobile device to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the second mobile device sets the receiving channel of the second mobile device to a single channel value of the channel hopping sequence.
The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitting the information of the channel hopping sequence of the first mobile device to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism comprises transmitting the information of the channel hopping sequence of the first mobile device to an FSK, PSK, RS232 or RS485 terminal of the second mobile device via a wired cable.
The method of claim 3, further comprising:

synchronizing an internal clock of the first mobile device and an internal clock of the second mobile device using the advertisement packet, a value of the internal clock of the first mobile device different from a value of the internal clock of the second mobile device before the synchronizing.
The method of claim 3, wherein the connecting the second mobile device with the network based on the received advertisement packet comprises:

receiving a join request from the second mobile device using the second communication mechanism, the join request including a join key of the second mobile device； and

transmitting the join request to a network manager of the network.
The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving an allocated session key from the network manager in response to authentication of the join request by the second mobile device； and

transmitting packets containing information of the allocated session key to the second mobile device.
A mobile device comprising:

one or more processors； and

memory to maintain a plurality of components executable by the one or more processors, the plurality of components comprising:

a frequency channel table configured to generate a channel hopping sequence indicating one or more hopping patterns of frequency channels of the mobile device,

a device joining module configured to:

detect a connection based on a first communication mechanism between the mobile device andan additional mobile device, the mobile device having joined a network, and the additional mobile device having not joined the network,

transmit information of the channel hopping sequence of the mobile device to the additional mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the additional mobile device sets a receiving channel of the additional mobile device using a subset of the channel hopping sequence, and

transmit an advertisement packet from the mobile device to the additional mobile device based on the receiving channel of the additional mobile device using a second communication mechanism, the second communication mechanism different from the first communication mechanism, and

a networking module configured to connect the additional mobile device with the network using the received advertisement packet.
The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the second communication is implemented by a Bluetooth protocol, an infrared protocol, or a wireless protocol.
The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the first communication mechanism comprises a wired communication, and the second communication mechanism comprises a wireless communication.
The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the detecting the connection based on the first communication mechanism the mobile device with the additional mobile device comprises detecting a wired connection between the mobile device with the additional mobile device via a wired cable.
The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the transmit the information of the channel hopping sequence of the mobile device to the additional mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the additional mobile device sets the receiving channel of the additional mobile device using the subset of the channel hopping sequence comprises transmitting the information of the channel hopping sequence of the first mobile device to the second mobile device using the first communication mechanism such that the second mobile device sets the receiving channel of the second mobile device to a single channel value in the channel hopping sequence.
The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the device joining module is configured to further synchronize an internal clock of the mobile device and an internal clock of the additional mobile device using the advertisement packet, a value of the internal clock of the mobile device different from a value of the internal clock of the additional mobile device before the synchronizing of the internal clock of the mobile device.
The mobile device of claim 13, wherein networking module is configured further to:

receive a join request from the additional mobile device using the second communication mechanism, the join request including a join key of the additional mobile device； and

transmit the join request to a network manager of the network.
The mobile device of claim 19, wherein networking module is configured further to:

receive an allocated session key from the network manager in response to authentication of the join request by the additional mobile device； and

transmit packets containing information of the allocated session key to the additional mobile device.