Method for determining the location address of a node device in a node device network and such a node device

Abstract

A method and a node device for determining the location address of node devices (21, 22... 26) of a network (10). The node devices (21, 22... 26) are arranged along an elongated track (12) and are geographically separated from each other by an inter-node distance "d". Each node device (21, 22... 26) includes a short-range communication interface (20). A node device (22) receives a message (27) from an adjacent node device (21) having a known location address included in the message (27). The receiving node device (21) determines its own location address based on the location address received in the message (27). The receiving node device (22) can then transmit another message (28) including its determined location address to another node device (23), thereby allowing that other node device (23) to also determine its location address.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of network access initialization of node devices, and more particularly to a method for determining the location address of node devices in a network of operably interconnected node devices, and node devices for operating in a network of node devices. Background Art

[0002] Electrical or electronic devices such as lighting devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, as well as devices such as those supporting enhanced machine type communication (eMTC), all of which include data communication capabilities, are frequently deployed in networks consisting of multiple interconnected devices.

[0003] These devices, commonly referred to as node devices or terminal devices, include short-range communication interfaces for communication only between node devices, also known as inter-node device communication, such as transceiver modules, and may include remote communication interfaces such as network adapters or transceiver modules for data exchange with remote devices such as backend devices or backend servers.

[0004] The short-range communication interface can operate according to network protocols used for data exchange by networked devices or nodes, such as the specified ZigBee TM , Bluetooth TM and WiFi-based protocols for wireless networks, as well as wired bus networks, for example, such as DALI TM (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplexing), KNX (and KNX-based systems), as well as proprietary communication technologies and protocols.

[0005] The remote communication interface can operate according to wireless mobile communication standards, such as the specified 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular communication, as well as other remote wireless communication technologies, such as long range wide area network (LoRaWAN) and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) or proprietary communication technologies and / or wired data exchange communication technologies.

[0006] For example, a lighting system and particularly an outdoor lighting system such as a street lighting system may include a large number of smart poles connected into a network of node devices. Generally, all smart poles are connected to a backend device, which can manage all functions provided by the smart poles, such as power consumption statistics, pole location maps, environmental alerts, display content control, etc., by means of various electronic devices installed on the smart poles.

[0007] For the intelligent pole to operate properly and be accurately managed by the backend device, the intelligent pole must be put into network access initialization or required to enter the network after installation. Before network access initialization, the backend device generally knows the Internet Protocol (IP), address, and / or identification (ID) of the intelligent pole, but it cannot associate the above information with the specific location of the intelligent pole. The network access initialization of the intelligent pole allows the backend device to know the location of the intelligent pole and associate or relate that location to the intelligent pole identified by its IP or ID. Then, the backend can visualize all intelligent poles on a map and perform location-aware operations on the intelligent poles accordingly.

[0008] In some regions of the world, when the intelligent pole is equipped with a positioning device such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the network access initialization of the intelligent pole can be automatically completed, and the positioning device can report the geographical coordinates of the intelligent pole to the backend device during network access initialization. However, this method adds additional cost to the intelligent pole because new hardware is required.

[0009] In addition, in some regions of the world, it may be prohibited to equip the intelligent pole with a positioning device. In the case where positioning services are not supported in the intelligent pole, the network access initialization must be performed manually by the installer on each pole on-site. The installer manually records the location of the intelligent pole and reports it to the backend device via, for example, a public telecommunications network, which takes a lot of additional effort and is error-prone.

[0010] US2012 / 0059622A1 discloses a street lamp monitoring system in which a small number of street lamps are anchor nodes, and the anchor nodes are configured to detect and store their own actual fixed positions to act as reference points. In addition, other street lamps are called blind nodes and do not have their actual fixed positions, but their positions can be derived using the coordinates of the anchor nodes and estimating their distances to the anchor nodes. The distance estimation for any blind node can be performed using the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measured at the corresponding blind node, which is used for small distances up to a threshold, and the link quantization technique makes use of the typical placement of the street lamps. The inferred distances between street lamps can be assigned to predetermined distance categories for rough estimation and further position adjustment to the closest possible "true" position.

[0011] Therefore, there is a real need for a method of obtaining the location address of node devices in a network, especially for supporting the automatic network access initialization of node devices configured to interconnect node devices, such as for an outdoor or street lighting system including a large number of node devices arranged as, for example, intelligent poles. Summary of the Invention

[0012] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for determining the location address of a node device in a network of operatively interconnected node devices is presented. The node devices are arranged at different positions along an elongated track and are geographically separated from each other by an inter-node distance. Each node device has a unique identifier and includes a short-range communication interface arranged for inter-node communication. The method includes the following steps:

[0013] - The node device uses the short-range communication interface to receive a message from an adjacent node device along the track having a known location address, the message including the location address of the adjacent node device;

[0014] - The node device determines its location address along the track based on the location address in the received message;

[0015] - The node device uses the short-range communication interface to transmit an additional message, the additional message including the determined location address of the node device;

[0016] - The additional adjacent node device of the node device uses the short-range communication interface to receive the additional message;

[0017] - The additional adjacent node device determines its location address along the track based on the location address in the received additional message, and

[0018] - The additional adjacent node device uses the short-range communication interface to transmit a message including the determined location address of the additional adjacent node device.

[0019] The present disclosure is based on the insight that a node device in a network of interconnected node devices can determine or calculate its own location address based on the known location addresses of adjacent node devices. In fact, all node devices are arranged in sequence or order along an elongated track and are optionally separated by an inter-node distance, which allows the node devices to perform such location address determination.

[0020] The node device first receives a message from an adjacent node device, the location address of which is known and included in the received message. Then, the node device continues to take the known location address of the adjacent node device as a reference point or reference location address for determining its own location address along the track. The determined location address can be a relative location address along the track or explicit geographical coordinates, as will be further elaborated below.

[0021] The node device then transmits an additional message including its determined location address. This additional message will be received by another adjacent node device and used by that other adjacent node device in a similar manner to determine its location address.

[0022] Therefore, the method of the present disclosure allows for the automatic determination of the location address of the connected node devices in the network, thus eliminating errors caused by manually recording and reporting location addresses. In addition, no additional hardware devices (such as positioning devices) are required, which also helps to save or reduce the system cost of the entire network. The determined location address can be used by a remote management device such as a backend server for network entry initialization purposes and accordingly for the control or management of the node devices.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when no location address has been assigned to the node device, the determination step is performed by the node device.

[0024] To prevent a node device being initialized for network entry from attempting to determine its location address again due to accidentally receiving a message from an adjacent node device, the node device attempts to determine its location address only if it has not yet been assigned or determined. The node device can decide whether it has been assigned a location address by checking, for example, the local availability of the location address in the storage device of the node device or the presence of a network entry initialization confirmation message from the backend server. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the location address of the node device includes a string number corresponding to the relative position of the node device in a string of node devices arranged along a track, and the determination step includes continuously adapting the string number.

[0025] It is conceivable that for some applications, the relative position of the node device will be sufficient for the backend server to perform the required operations and management on the node device. In this case, the location address of the node device can include a string number indicating the relative position of the node device in the string of node devices along the track.

[0026] Therefore, determining the location address of the node device from the known location address of the immediately adjacent node device includes continuously adapting the sequence number to the next one in the string, which will be the sequence number of the receiving node device. This is very simply implemented and requires few processing resources.

[0027] For example, when 1000 node devices are arranged along a track and are continuously numbered from 1 to 1000 starting from number 1, for example, when a message indicating a relative location address of 595 is received at a node device, the receiving node device determines its location address by adapting the received location address to 596, and so on. It will be appreciated that the term "number" or "string number" can include the position in a string of numerical characters and / or letters and alphanumeric characters, where adapting includes calculating the next position in the string.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the location address of the node device includes the geographical coordinates of the node device, the message further includes the distance between nodes and the geographical direction of the track, and the determining step includes calculating the geographical coordinates of the node device based on the geographical coordinates of the adjacent node device, the distance between nodes, and the geographical direction of the track.

[0029] In practice, it may be necessary to know the exact geographical location (i.e., geographical coordinates) of the node device along the elongated track, which means that the location address of the node device includes geographical coordinates or is expressed in terms of geographical coordinates. To calculate the geographical coordinates of the node device from the geographical coordinates of the adjacent node device, the inter-node distance geography and the geographical direction of the track must also be used.

[0030] For a street lighting system, considering that the distance between nodes is relatively small compared to the size of the earth, the calculation can be simplified to arithmetic addition or subtraction of geographical coordinates along the geographical direction of the track, or the use of trigonometric functions. Such calculations are also relatively simple and do not require many or specific resources to process.

[0031] The calculated geographical coordinates of the node device can be used to provide an accurate indication of the location where the node device is geographically located, so that location-related operations that require precise knowledge of the geographical coordinates of the node device can be performed.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the message includes number information related to the number of node devices whose locations must be determined, where when determining its location address, the number information is adapted by the node device to indicate one less than the number of node devices whose locations must be determined, and where if the number information indicates that there are no additional node devices whose locations must be determined, the transmission of the additional message is terminated.

[0033] The number information related to a plurality of node devices whose location addresses must be determined allows the node device receiving the message to determine whether it is the last node device to determine its location by adapting the number information to the next in the queue. In the case where there are still other node devices whose locations must be determined, the node device whose location address has now been determined will transmit an additional message including the determined location address of the node device, thereby allowing the next adjacent node device to determine its location accordingly. Otherwise, the transmission of the additional message is terminated.

[0034] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the number information is a range of digits, letters, and alphanumeric characters, where the adaptation includes calculating the next position in the range.

[0035] It can be envisioned that the number information representing the number of node devices for which the location address is to be determined can be expressed in various ways. The simplest way is a range of numbers or a series of numbers, but more complex numbers such as letters and alphanumeric characters can also be used. The number information can be used in ascending or descending order as long as it can be adapted to indicate how many more node devices have their location addresses yet to be determined. Thus, this adaptation includes calculating or finding the next position in the range, which indicates that there is one less node device for which the location address needs to be determined.

[0036] When the number information indicates that there are no additional node devices for which the location address needs to be determined, no further messages are transmitted. In this way, the transmission of messages to node devices that have already had their location addresses determined is effectively prevented.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, by allocating location addresses to selected node devices, the node device located at one end of the elongated track is selected as the starting node device.

[0038] To make the implementation of the method easier, before automatically determining the location addresses of other node devices according to the present disclosure as described above, first manually network a node device, especially the node device located at one end of the elongated track. The manual network initialization of the starting node device can include setting or allocating geographical coordinates or relative position serial numbers for the starting node device. Optionally, the geographical direction of the track and the distance between nodes can also be manually configured for the starting node device at this time point.

[0039] The location address of the starting node device can then be used to determine the location address along the track of the next adjacent node device.

[0040] Compared with manually network initializing more than 1000 or even 10000 node devices in practical applications, manually network initializing only one node device requires much less effort and can be accurately controlled to avoid errors, which is much easier than manually network initializing a large number of node devices.

[0041] In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes including number information in a message at the starting node device.

[0042] This is to ensure that the number information has the correct initial value, which indicates the number of node devices in the network for which the location address must be determined and is accordingly network initialized. As the location address of each subsequent node device after the starting node device is determined, the number information is correspondingly adapted to the next position in the range of numbers, letters, and alphanumeric characters. The number information remains up-to-date so as to always reflect the node devices for which the location address must be determined.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes a step of a node device reporting its location address and unique identifier to a backend server.

[0044] After each node device knows its location address, it can report the location address and its unique identifier to the backend server, enabling the backend server to initialize the node devices in the network for network access by associating the location addresses of the node devices with, for example, the IP addresses of the node devices. This network access initialization ensures that the backend server correctly manages all node devices.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, in response to determining its location address, the reporting step is performed by the node device. Alternatively, in response to a query from the backend server, the reporting step of the node device is performed.

[0046] It is conceivable that the node device can report the determined location address to the backend server immediately after determination, thereby allowing the backend server to initialize the node device for network access in the network. In this way, the backend server can identify node devices that have not been correctly initialized for network access by failing to receive any reports from such node devices.

[0047] Alternatively, the backend server can send a query message to the node device to collect the determined location address of the node device. This can be done as a collective step with improved efficiency.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the node device closes its short-range communication interface after transmitting another message.

[0049] As a measure to ensure that messages are always received by adjacent node devices that have not been assigned a location address, the node device can, for example, close its short-range communication interface according to an instruction from the backend server or on its own initiative after its location address becomes known to the backend server, and transmit another message including the determined location address. This helps prevent inadvertently modifying the location address of the node device.

[0050] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a node device arranged to operate in a network of operably interconnected node devices, the node devices being arranged at different positions along an elongated track and being geographically separated from each other by an inter-node distance, the node device having a unique identifier and including a short-range communication interface arranged for inter-node communication, the node device including a processor and being arranged to operate according to the method of the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0051] With reference to the known location addresses of adjacent node devices and following the method of the present disclosure, the node device of the present disclosure can automatically determine its location address.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the short-range communication interface includes one of a camera and a display combination and / or a wired and / or wireless communication interface or an equivalent.

[0053] Some node devices, especially smart poles, may be equipped with IoT devices such as high-resolution cameras and displays. The camera and the display can be used together as a short-range communication interface for transmitting and receiving messages including the location address of the node device. As an example, a neighboring node device can display an image embedded with a message, such as a Quick Response (QR) code, on its display, so that the node device can use its camera to scan and capture the QR code to extract the message.

[0054] Receiving messages in this way does not involve additional communication costs, which also helps to save radio resources required for communication.

[0055] Alternatively, the short-range communication interface includes a wireless communication interface, so the message is transmitted through the wireless communication channel between the node device and the neighboring node device.

[0056] It is conceivable that currently available wireless communication interfaces can be easily used to exchange messages between the node device and the neighboring node device. In this case, a communication channel is established between the two node devices, and the message is transmitted according to the corresponding wireless transmission protocol.

[0057] In particular, as an example, the wireless communication interface is one of a cellular communication interface, a Li-Fi interface, and a Bluetooth interface, and the received message is transmitted at a signal strength arranged to be received only by the node device.

[0058] Since the message is meant to be received only by the node device from the neighboring node device, a specific power level and signal strength are used to perform the transmission to ensure that only the node device can receive the message. This ensures that the message is always transmitted to the closest node device along the track, thus allowing the correct reference location address, i.e., the known location address of the neighboring node device, to be used to determine the location address of the node device.

[0059] The third aspect of the present disclosure includes an electrical or electronic device, such as a smart pole including at least one node device of the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0060] The fourth aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer program product including a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to implement the above method of the present disclosure.

[0061] The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals denote the same parts or parts that perform the same or similar functions or operations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] Figure 1 Schematically illustrates a network of node devices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the node devices being arranged as smart poles mounted along an elongated track.

[0063] Figure 2 Illustrated in a simplified flowchart are steps for determining the positions of node devices of a network of operably interconnected nodes according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0064] Figure 3 Schematically illustrates an embodiment of a node device or a terminal device arranged to operate in a network of operably interconnected node devices according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] Embodiments contemplated by the present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Instead, the illustrated embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0066] The present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to a network of operably interconnected smart poles operating as node devices of a network. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure is not limited to a streetlight network, but is applicable to networks of a variety of node devices enabled with network communication connectivity as indicated in the background section.

[0067] Each node device is configured with a short-range communication interface. The short-range communication interface can operate according to network protocols for data exchange by networked devices or nodes, such as the specified ZigBee TM , Bluetooth TM and WiFi-based protocols for wireless networks, as well as wired bus networks, such as DALI TM (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplexing), KNX (and KNX-based systems), and proprietary communication technologies and protocols, wireless or wired, for example. The short-range communication interface typically operates in broadcast, narrowcast, or unicast communication modes for data exchange between node devices in the network.

[0068] As elaborated above, the short-range communication interface can consist of a high-resolution camera and a display at the node device. These camera and display can be used together to transmit and receive messages including the location address of the node device.

[0069] Some or all of the node devices may also be equipped with a remote communication interface arranged to communicate with a backend server, which is also configured with a remote communication interface. The remote communication interface typically operates according to a mobile communication system technology in a licensed frequency band, such as 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular communication, as well as other remote wireless communication technologies, such as known LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) and NB-IoT (NarrowBand Internet of Things) communication. However, the remote communication interface may also operate according to a proprietary wireless communication protocol or technology and / or a wired data exchange communication technology.

[0070] Figure 1 Schematically illustrates a network 10 of node devices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the node devices being arranged as smart poles mounted along an elongated straight and / or curved track 12.

[0071] Smart poles 21, 22... 26 are installed along the elongated track 12, for example as construction items, which may be a highway, street, road or path in an urban or suburban environment. The elongated track 12 is predefined geographically according to a construction plan or installation plan indicating a geographical route, which includes a geographical direction 13 for each section along the track 12. The smart poles 21, 22... 26 are equidistant from each other at an inter-node distance, such as a geographical distance "d".

[0072] The smart poles 21, 22... 26 may also be installed on more than one track 12 (not shown), in which case the smart poles 21, 22... 26 along each track may be processed independently according to the method of the present disclosure.

[0073] Some or all of the smart poles 21, 22... 26 may be connected to the backend server 18 via a remote communication interface 19 through a network 14, such as the Internet 14. The backend server 18 includes a memory or repository 15 for storing project local network data, which includes, for example, Internet Protocol IP addresses assigned by the backend server 18 to the smart poles 21, 22... 26. The backend server 18 further includes a transceiver 16 for exchanging data with the smart poles 21, 22... 26 using the remote communication interface 19 and the Internet 14, and operating a process or application 17 for remotely managing and operating the smart poles 21, 22... 26.

[0074] For the purposes of the present disclosure, it is assumed that each smart pole 21, 22... 26 is assigned a unique network identifier (NID) after installation and first power-on, such as an IP address dynamically assigned by, for example, the backend server 18 via a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service.

[0075] The intelligent poles 21, 22... 26 can report their unique identifiers, such as the Media Access Control (MAC) address or Serial Number (SN) assigned by the manufacturer, to the backend server 18. The backend server 18 can manage and operate all functions of each intelligent pole 21, 22... 26, including, for example, power consumption statistics, pole positioning maps, environmental alerts, and display content control. Some operations require the backend server 18 to know the location addresses of the node devices along the track 12.

[0076] The method according to the present disclosure allows the node devices, namely the intelligent poles 21, 22... 26, to determine their location addresses and report them to the backend server 18, so that the backend server 18 can put the node devices including their location addresses into use and add them to the network 10, and thereafter manage and control the intelligent poles 21, 22... 26.

[0077] Figure 2 The steps of determining the location addresses of the node devices of a network of operably interconnected intelligent poles according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are illustrated in the simplified flowchart 30.

[0078] As a preparatory step, all intelligent poles 21, 22... 26 have their short-range communication interfaces 20, especially receivers, such as radio receivers, optical fidelity, Li-Fi, receivers, or cameras, which are turned on and tuned so that the intelligent poles 21, 22... 26 can receive messages from adjacent intelligent poles 21, 22... 26. For example, so as to receive only messages with a Radio Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) level higher than a set threshold, or receive optical images at a specific light level, for example, thereby allowing error-free decoding of a code projected on the display of an adjacent node device.

[0079] In step 31, "manually initialize the network access of the starting node device by setting the location address of the starting node device", for example, the installer or on-site engineer manually initializes the network access of the node device located at one end of the elongated track 12, such as the leftmost intelligent pole 21, which can also be referred to as the starting pole 21 or the initializer pole 21.

[0080] Manually initializing the network access configures the location address of the initializer pole 21, which can be the geographical coordinates of the pole, or a relative position, such as a serial number corresponding to the relative position of the intelligent poles in a string or queue along the track 12. The configured or assigned location address is transmitted to the backend server 18, thereby allowing the backend server to associate the location address with the IP or ID of the starting node device, and thus initializing the network access of the starting node device.

[0081] The inter-node distance "d" can be configured for the starting node device during manual network entry initialization. Alternatively, for example, when the smart pole is powered on for the first time, or at a later stage in response to a request from the smart pole, the inter-node distance "d" can also be transmitted from the backend server 18 to all smart poles.

[0082] The initializer pole 21 can also receive the geographical direction of the track 12 from the installer and locally store it at the node device. During the network entry initialization of the initializer pole 21, the initializer pole 21 can receive number information related to the total number of items to be network entry initialized or poles to be installed, and this number information can be used to determine the number of smart poles 22...26. According to the present disclosure, the positions of the smart poles 22...26 will still be obtained during network entry initialization.

[0083] The number form can be expressed in various ways, such as a series of digits, letters, or alphanumeric characters.

[0084] A simple and straightforward example of the number information can be a digit indicating the total number of poles. As an example, for an installation project with 1000 lamp poles, the number information assigned at the initializer pole 21 can be 1000.

[0085] Alternatively, according to the method of the present disclosure, the number information can include a series of digits 1, 2, 3,..., 1000, or a series of alphanumerics A1, A2, A3,..., A1000, or any other series indicating that a total of 1000 node devices are to be network entry initialized (i.e., their location addresses are to be determined).

[0086] The above number information can be used in ascending or descending order as long as it can adapt to indicate how many more node devices whose location addresses are to be determined. The above configuration information can be stored in the storage device of the starting pole 21.

[0087] In step 32, "the node device receives a message from an adjacent node device with a known location address", smart poles such as the smart pole 22 adjacent to the initializer pole 21 use their short-range communication interface 20 to receive the message 27 transmitted by the initializer pole 21.

[0088] In the case where the short-range communication interface 20 of the smart pole includes a camera and a display, the initializer pole 21 can turn on its display just before this step, so that an image including the message (such as a Quick Response (QR) code) can be displayed on the display of the initializer pole 21, thereby only allowing the smart pole 22 adjacent to the initializer pole 21 (hereinafter referred to as the target pole or target node device) to use its camera to scan the displayed image.

[0089] As mentioned above, the short-range communication interface 20 may also include a wireless communication interface. In this case, the message 27 is transmitted from the initiator pole 21 to the target pole 22 via a communication channel established between the poles 21, 22.

[0090] For the wireless transmission of the message 27, it is noted that the message is transmitted by an intelligent pole, which has a signal strength that allows the message to be received only by the intelligent poles in the immediate vicinity of the transmitting pole.

[0091] For example, when using a ZigBee interface, the message may be a ZigBee inter-pan message. Alternatively, when using a Li-Fi interface, the message may be a Li-Fi message.

[0092] The message 27 includes the location address of the initiator pole 21 and optionally includes number information related to a plurality of node devices whose location addresses must be determined.

[0093] The receiving node device must adapt the number information in the message because the location address of the initiator pole has been configured and reported to the backend server 18. The adaptation of the number information may include calculating or finding the next position in a string or series, which indicates that there is one less node device whose location address needs to be determined.

[0094] In the above example of a project with 1000 intelligent poles, where the number information is simply represented by the number 1000, the adaptation is to subtract one from 1000 (i.e., adapt the number information to 999) to indicate that there are now 999 intelligent poles whose location addresses remain to be determined.

[0095] In the case where the number information includes a series of numbers, letters, or alphanumeric characters, the adaptation may include finding the next position in the series, such as from A99 to A100.

[0096] Optionally, the message 27 may also include the geographical direction 13 of the track 12. For example, the track extension direction along the entire track 12 may be transmitted in the message 27. On the other hand, the message 27 may include only the geographical direction of the portion of the track 12 that covers the target node device, thus attempting to determine its location address and the node devices among its neighbors.

[0097] It is also possible to obtain the geographical direction 13 directly from the backend server 18 by sending a request message from the node device to the backend server 18.

[0098] The inter-node distance "d" may also be optionally included in the received message 27. Alternatively, the inter-node distance "d" may also be obtained from the backend server 18 by sending a request message or the like.

[0099] Next, in step 33, "When no location address has been assigned to the node device, the node device determines its location address based on the location address in the received message", only when the location address of the receiving node device has not been assigned or determined, the target node device - that is, the target smart pole 22 adjacent to the initializer pole 21 - determines its location address by using the location address of the received initializer pole 21 as a reference location address.

[0100] The node device can determine whether the location address has been assigned to it by checking, for example, the local availability of the location address in the node device's storage device or the presence of a network entry initialization confirmation message from a backend server or equivalent. When the location address has been assigned, the node device knows that messages received from directly adjacent node devices do not need to be processed. That is, the smart pole will not attempt to determine or calculate its location a second time because this is no longer necessary.

[0101] It may not always be necessary to know the precise geographical coordinates of the smart poles. In fact, for some applications, it may be sufficient to know their relative positions, for example expressed as a string of numbers of corresponding node devices along the track 12. In this case, the determination of the location address of the target pole may include continuously adapting the received serial numbers.

[0102] As an example, if the starting pole is assigned a sequence number of 1, the target pole is the one immediately adjacent to the starting pole, and its relative position may be determined to be indicated by sequence number 2, and so on.

[0103] In case the location address of the smart pole is expressed in geographical coordinates, the target smart pole 22 uses the known location address of the initializer pole 21, the inter-node distance “d”, and the geographical direction 13 of the track 12 to calculate its location address, ie, its geographical coordinates.

[0104] It is contemplated that deriving the geographic coordinates of the target pole from the geographic coordinates of the initializer pole, the geographic direction of the track, and the geographic distance between nodes may be performed in a variety of ways known to those skilled in the art, which need not be elaborated upon here.

[0105] The calculated geographic coordinates of the target node device can be used to provide an accurate or actual indication of where the target node device is geographically located so that location-dependent operations can be performed, such as replacing a faulty lighting device mounted on a smart pole with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

[0106] Subsequently, in step 34, "transmit, by the node device, an additional message including the determined location address", the target pole 22 now acts as the initiator pole and transmits an additional message 28 including its determined location address, thereby allowing the adjacent pole - namely, the pole 23 immediately adjacent to it (which is now the target pole) - to determine its location address accordingly. The current target pole 23 can obtain or determine its own location according to the above steps 32 and 33.

[0107] Before transmitting the additional message, the target pole can check whether it is the last pole, whose location address must be determined by referring to the number information in the received message. If it is the last pole, it does not transmit the additional message 28.

[0108] Steps 32 and 33 can be repeatedly executed until the location addresses of all the intelligent poles in the network are determined.

[0109] In step 35, "report, by the node device, its location address to the backend server", this can be executed by each intelligent pole after determining its location address, or at a later time point after determining the location addresses of multiple intelligent poles or all intelligent poles. The location addresses of the intelligent poles 21, 22... 26 are reported to the backend server 18, so that the backend server 18 can associate or relate the location addresses of the intelligent poles with their unique identifiers (such as the IP address or ID of the intelligent pole), thereby initializing the intelligent poles to be networked into the network 10.

[0110] The reporting of the location address can also be executed in response to a query message sent by the backend server 18 to the node device for collecting the determined location addresses of the node devices. This can be completed as a collective step to improve efficiency.

[0111] After each intelligent pole 21, 22... 26 is successfully initialized to be networked, the backend server 18 can send a confirmation message to the intelligent pole, thereby notifying the intelligent pole that it has been initialized to be networked into the network.

[0112] In step 36, "close, by the node device, the short - range communication interface", the backend server 18 can send an instruction to the intelligent pole that has been initialized to be networked, thereby requesting the intelligent pole to close its short - range communication interface 20, so that the intelligent pole that has been initialized to be networked will not receive messages from directly adjacent intelligent poles and will attempt to determine or calculate its location a second time because it is no longer necessary. By closing the short - range communication interface, or at least disabling the short - range communication interface for communication purposes, it effectively prevents messages from being transmitted to the intelligent pole that has been initialized to be networked in the reverse direction along the track - namely, in the direction of the starting device or the initiator device.

[0113] Alternatively, the intelligent pole with its determined location address can actively close its short - range communication interface after transmitting the additional message 28.

[0114] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a node device or a terminal device according to the present disclosure, the node device or the terminal device being arranged to operate in a network of operably interconnected node devices.

[0115] The node device 40 includes a control part or a control device 41 and a load such as a lighting fixture or a lighting device 42, which includes a lighting module 43, preferably a light-emitting diode (LED), one lighting module, or a plurality of LED lighting modules, the operation of which can be controlled by the control device 41 from a remote control device or via a remote control device, such as a remote or backend server (not shown).

[0116] The control device 41 operates a short-range communication interface 47, which is, for example, a second network adapter or a transceiver Tx / Rx 2 module, which is arranged for short-range wireless 48 or wired 49 exchange of messages or data packets with another node device in the network, i.e., so-called inter-node device communication. The network protocol for data exchange by networked devices or nodes may include ZigBee TM , Bluetooth TM and WiFi-based protocols for wireless networks and wired bus networks, such as DALI TM (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplexing), and KNX (or KNX-based systems), as well as other proprietary protocols. As mentioned above, the optical camera and the optical display may include the short-range communication interface 47.

[0117] The control device 41 may further operate a remote communication interface 44, which is, for example, a first network adapter or a transceiver Tx / Rx 1 module, which is arranged for direct wireless message exchange or data packet 45 with a remote control device or a backend server. The remote communication interface 44 generally operates according to the mobile communication system technology in the licensed frequency band, such as 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular communication, as well as other remote wireless communication technologies - such as the known Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) and NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) communication. However, the remote communication interface 44 may also operate according to a proprietary wireless communication protocol or technology.

[0118] The expression "direct wireless message exchange" refers to the downlink DL data exchange from the remote server to the node device 40 via the remote communication interface 44 through a wireless communication channel, and the uplink UL data exchange from the node device 40 to the remote server via the remote communication interface 44, etc.

[0119] The telecommunication interface 44 may be arranged for wired message exchange 46, such as for data exchange via an Ethernet connection and the Internet etc.

[0120] The control device 41 further includes at least one microprocessor (μP) or controller 50, and at least one data repository or storage device or memory 51, which in particular includes, among other things, items local network data 52 for storing operating software, such as for initializing the network entry of the node devices of the network, computer program code instructions for operating the node devices according to the present disclosure, address information 53 of the node devices themselves and other node devices, such as the identifier 54 (ID) of the node devices, media access control (MAC) addresses, and subscriber information. Instead of the repository 51, at least one separate memory or storage device accessible to the at least one processor or controller 50 may be provided.

[0121] The at least one microprocessor or controller 50 communicatively interacts with and controls the telecommunication interface 44, the short-range communication interface 47, and the at least one repository or storage device 51 via the internal data communication and control bus 55 of the control device 41. The telecommunication interface 44 and the short-range communication interface 47 may be arranged for transmitting / forwarding messages and data required for determining the location address of the node device, such as the distance between nodes, the geographical direction of the track, the location addresses of adjacent node devices, and number information related to the number of node devices for which the location address must be determined.

[0122] The lighting fixture or lighting device 42 is connected 56 to the data communication and control bus 55 and is controlled by the at least one microprocessor or controller 50 from the data communication and control bus 55.

[0123] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in addition to or in addition to the lighting fixture or lighting device 42, any electrical load may be connected 56 to the control bus, such as different types of motor loads and (environmental) sensors and / or measuring equipment, etc.

[0124] The present disclosure is not limited to the examples disclosed above and may be modified and enhanced by those skilled in the art outside the scope of the present disclosure as disclosed in the appended claims without the need to apply creative skills and for use in any data communication, data exchange, and data processing environment, system, or network.

Claims

1. A method for determining the location address of a node device in a network of operatively interconnected node devices, the node devices being arranged at different positions along an elongated track and being geographically separated from each other by an inter-node distance, each node device having a unique identifier and including a short-range communication interface arranged for inter-node communication, the method comprising the steps of: - receiving, by a node device using the short-range communication interface, a message from an adjacent node device having a known location address along the track, the message including the location address of the adjacent node device; - determining, by the node device, its location address along the track based on the location address in the message received from the adjacent node device; - transmitting, by the node device using the short-range communication interface, a further message, the further message including the determined location address of the node device; - receiving, by a further adjacent node device of the node device, the further message using the short-range communication interface; - determining, by the further adjacent node device, its location address along the track based on the location address in the further message received from the node device, and - transmitting, by the further adjacent node device using the short-range communication interface, a message including the determined location address of the further adjacent node device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the location address of the node device is performed by the node device when no location address has been assigned to the node device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The location address of the node device includes a serial number corresponding to the relative position of the node device along the track, and the step of determining the location address of the node device includes successively adapting the serial number.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the location address of the node device includes the geographical coordinates of the node device, the message further includes the inter-node distance and the geographical direction of the track, and the step of determining the location address of the node device includes calculating the geographical coordinates of the node device based on the geographical coordinates of the adjacent node device, the inter-node distance, and the geographical direction of the track.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message includes number information related to the number of node devices for which the location has to be determined, wherein when determining its location address, the node device adapts the number information to indicate one less than the number of node devices for which the location has to be determined, and wherein if the number information indicates that there are no further node devices for which the location has to be determined, the transmission of the further message is terminated.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the number information includes a range of digits, letters, and alphanumeric characters, and wherein the adaptation includes calculating the next position in the range.

7. The method according to any one of claims 5 and 6, wherein, By assigning a location address to the node device, the node device located at one end of the elongated track is selected as the starting node device.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising including the number information in a message at the starting node device.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of a node device reporting its location address and unique identifier to a backend server.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the reporting step of the node device is performed in response to determining one of its location address and a query from the backend server.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The node device closes its short-range communication interface after transmitting the additional message.

12. A node device, arranged to operate in a network of operatively interconnected node devices, the node devices being arranged at different positions along an elongated track and being geographically separated from each other by an inter-node distance, the node device having a unique identifier and including a short-range communication interface arranged for inter-node communication, the node device including a processor and being arranged to operate according to the method of any one of claims 1-11.

13. The node device according to claim 12, wherein the short-range communication interface includes a combination of a camera and a display, one of a wired and wireless communication interface.

14. An electrical or electronic device, such as a smart light pole, comprising at least one node device according to claim 12.

15. A computer program product, comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1-11.

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