Patent ID: 8223680

Claim:
A method of activating and deactivating a mesh network for mesh network communications in ad hoc mesh networking utilizing a data communication device for each of a plurality of network nodes, each data communication device including both, a two-way communications component comprising a first receiver and transmitter, and a second receiver, wherein the second receiver activates the two-way communications component from a dormant state upon receipt by the second receiver of a wake-up broadcast that includes a wake-up identifier of the data communication device, wherein the method comprises: tracking, at each of the network nodes, one or more metrics related to communications with other network nodes; transmitting a first wake-up broadcast that includes a first wake-up identifier such that each second receiver of each data communication device identified by the first wake-up identifier, upon receiving the first wake-up broadcast, will activate the two-way communications component of the data communication device, and thereafter the data communication device will engage in mesh networking communications; propagating, by each data communication device that receives the first wake-up broadcast, the first wake-up broadcast; periodically retransmitting the first wake-up broadcast that includes the first wake-up identifier such that each second receiver of each data communication device identified by the first wake-up identifier, upon receiving the first wake-up broadcast, will activate the two-way communications component of the data communication device, and thereafter the data communication device will engage in mesh networking communications; transmitting a second broadcast that includes a second identifier such that the two-way communications component of each data communication device identified by the second identifier, upon receiving the second broadcast, will cease its mesh networking communications and will return to the dormant state; wherein each data communication device is configured such that, after receiving and propagating the first wake-up broadcast, the data communication device will not propagate that first wake-up broadcast again even if the first wake-up broadcast is received again; and wherein the first wake-up identifier represents a common designation corresponding to one or more of the tracked one or more metrics related to communications with other network nodes.