To reduce location-related traffic, routers could cache the results of successful location floods for a configurable time. While the cache is valid, nearby repeaters/routers would answer location requests using cached data instead of triggering a new network-wide flood. After expiration, a new flood would refresh the cache.
Additional Benefit: Reliability Estimation
Repeaters could compare current flood results with previously cached data. By measuring the overlap between both datasets, it may be possible to estimate the reliability and stability of a region or connection path.
This could provide a simple confidence metric indicating how consistently a location remains reachable over time.
Motivation
I travel frequently and currently avoid running location floods because of the traffic they generate. A caching mechanism with configurable expiration could make location lookups far less intrusive while keeping the data reasonably current.
Possible Configuration
- User-configurable cache timeout.
- Nearest repeater/router serves location requests from cache while valid.
- New network-wide location flood only after cache expiration.
- Optional reliability/confidence metric based on comparison with previous flood results.
This approach could significantly reduce network traffic, especially in larger deployments or when multiple users request location information within a short period.
To reduce location-related traffic, routers could cache the results of successful location floods for a configurable time. While the cache is valid, nearby repeaters/routers would answer location requests using cached data instead of triggering a new network-wide flood. After expiration, a new flood would refresh the cache.
Additional Benefit: Reliability Estimation
Repeaters could compare current flood results with previously cached data. By measuring the overlap between both datasets, it may be possible to estimate the reliability and stability of a region or connection path.
This could provide a simple confidence metric indicating how consistently a location remains reachable over time.
Motivation
I travel frequently and currently avoid running location floods because of the traffic they generate. A caching mechanism with configurable expiration could make location lookups far less intrusive while keeping the data reasonably current.
Possible Configuration
This approach could significantly reduce network traffic, especially in larger deployments or when multiple users request location information within a short period.