Methods of configuring a wireless device, corresponding wireless devices and base stations

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method of configuring a wireless device, a corresponding wireless device and a base station. A wireless device comprises an energy harvester and an energy storage, the energy harvester and the energy storage operating in a series of energy harvesting cycles in order to alternately harvest and release energy to power the wireless device. The wireless device further comprises a processing circuitry and a wireless communication circuitry. The method of configuring a wireless device comprises a first step in which the base station receives from the wireless device a signal indicating that the wireless communication circuitry enters a reception mode of operation. In a second step, the base station sends configuration data to the wireless device. The received configuration data is temporarily stored in a memory area of the wireless communication circuitry. In a third step, the temporarily stored configuration data is sent from the wireless communication circuitry to the processing circuitry for storage in a memory area. The second and third steps are performed during different energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

Description

[0001] Priority requirements

[0002] This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application No. 102021000018437, filed on July 13, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to the fullest extent permitted by law. Technical Field

[0003] This specification relates to energy-autonomous, battery-free electronic devices, such as wireless sensor nodes for use in wireless sensor networks. Background Technology

[0004] Traditional wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) used in wireless sensor networks are typically battery powered. This leads to significant limitations regarding where wireless sensor nodes can be installed, node lifespan, and the maximum number of devices that can be deployed (e.g., the maximum number of devices included in a single wireless sensor network).

[0005] However, the increasing demand for Internet of Things (IoT) applications necessitates a large number of interconnected wireless sensor nodes, thanks to their maintenance-free nature and affordability. Therefore, Energy Autonomous, Battery-Free Wireless Sensor Nodes (EABFWSNs) have been proposed, which rely on harvesting energy from the surrounding environment to perform their detection, measurement, and / or communication (e.g., radio communication) functions. The energy harvested by the wireless sensor node's energy harvester can be stored in the wireless sensor node's capacitor.

[0006] To adapt to different use cases, such wireless sensor nodes can be configurable, reconfigurable, and / or capable of firmware updates (e.g., after deployment). Configuring, reconfiguring, and / or updating the firmware of a wireless sensor node can require significant amounts of energy, typically exceeding the energy provided by conventional energy harvesting circuitry included in the wireless sensor node. Furthermore, harvestable ambient energy is neither constant nor predictable over time, therefore, configuration, reconfiguration, and / or updates cannot be performed during these operations unless the wireless device is connected to a stable and reliable power source (e.g., a battery, trunk power, or power wirelessly transferred from a nearby device). The necessity of connecting to a stable power source and the fact that wireless sensor nodes are often placed in hard-to-reach locations make configuration, reconfiguration, and / or firmware update operations inconvenient and expensive.

[0007] Therefore, this technology requires energy-autonomous, battery-free devices with improved over-the-air (OTA) configuration, reconfiguration, and / or update procedures. Summary of the Invention

[0008] One or more embodiments contribute to providing such energy-autonomous, battery-free devices that implement improved OTA configuration, reconfiguration, and / or update procedures.

[0009] One or more embodiments may involve methods.

[0010] One or more embodiments may relate to corresponding wireless devices.

[0011] One or more embodiments may relate to a corresponding base station used in a wireless sensor network.

[0012] In one or more embodiments, the wireless device may include an energy harvester and an energy storage element coupled to the energy harvester, the energy harvester and the energy storage element being configured (e.g., controlled) to alternately harvest energy from the surrounding environment and release energy for powering the wireless device during a series of energy harvesting cycles. The wireless device may also include processing circuitry and wireless communication circuitry. A method of configuring the wireless device may include: i) receiving, at a base station, a signal from the wireless device instructing the wireless communication circuitry to enter a receive operation mode; ii) as a result of the wireless communication circuitry entering the receive operation mode, transmitting configuration data from the base station to the wireless device and temporarily storing the received configuration data in a memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuitry; and iii) transmitting the temporarily stored configuration data from the wireless communication circuitry to the processing circuitry and storing the received configuration data in the memory area of ​​the processing circuitry. Steps ii) and iii) may be performed during different (e.g., different) energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

[0013] Therefore, one or more embodiments can facilitate the implementation of OTA configuration, reconfiguration and / or update processes for wireless devices.

[0014] In one or more embodiments, a configuration method may further include: iv) erasing configuration data temporarily stored in a memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit. Step iv) may be performed during different (e.g., different) energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device, relative to the energy harvesting cycle during which steps ii) and iii) are performed.

[0015] In one or more embodiments, steps ii) and iii) and optionally step iv) may be performed during subsequent energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

[0016] In one or more embodiments, the configuration method may further include checking whether data stored in a memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit differs from a reference value. Step iii) may be performed in response to the data stored in the memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit differing from the reference value.

[0017] In one or more embodiments, the configuration method may further include: transmitting configuration data stored in a memory area of ​​a processing circuit from a wireless device to a base station as comparison data; comparing the comparison data at the base station with configuration data previously transmitted from the base station to the wireless device; and terminating the transmission of the configuration data through the base station in response to the comparison data being equal to the configuration data previously transmitted from the base station to the wireless device.

[0018] In one or more embodiments, a configuration method may further include periodically receiving information data at a base station from a wireless device indicating the amount of energy stored in an energy storage element of the wireless device. Steps ii) and iii) and optional step iv) may be performed in response to the amount of energy stored in the energy storage element exceeding a certain threshold.

[0019] In one or more embodiments, transmitting temporarily stored configuration data from the wireless communication circuit to the processing circuit may include transmitting the temporarily stored configuration data via one of the following: a UART communication interface, a low-power UART communication interface, an SPI communication interface, or an I2C communication interface.

[0020] In one or more embodiments, a wireless device (e.g., a wireless sensor node in a wireless sensor network) may include an energy harvester, an energy storage element coupled to the energy harvester, processing circuitry, and wireless communication circuitry. The energy harvester and energy storage element may be configured (e.g., controlled) to alternately harvest energy from the surrounding environment and release energy to supply the wireless device during a series of energy harvesting cycles. The wireless communication circuitry may be configured to: i) transmit a signal to a base station indicating that the wireless communication circuitry enters a receive operation mode; ii) as a result of the wireless communication circuitry entering the receive operation mode, receive configuration data from the base station and temporarily store the received configuration data in a memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuitry; and iii) transmit the temporarily stored configuration data to the processing circuitry and store the received configuration data in the memory area of ​​the processing circuitry. Steps ii) and iii) may be performed during different (e.g., different) energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

[0021] In one or more embodiments, the wireless communication circuitry of the wireless device can be configured to periodically switch between a transmit operation mode and a receive operation mode.

[0022] In one or more embodiments, the wireless communication circuitry of the wireless device may include a Bluetooth radio, such as a Bluetooth Low Energy radio.

[0023] In one or more embodiments, the processing circuitry and wireless communication circuitry of the wireless device can be configured to exchange signals between them in a half-duplex mode.

[0024] In one or more embodiments, the wireless device may include a UART communication interface, a low-power UART communication interface, an SPI communication interface, or an I2C communication interface between the processing circuitry and the wireless communication circuitry.

[0025] In one or more embodiments, a base station used in a wireless sensor network may include a corresponding wireless communication circuit. The corresponding wireless communication circuit may be configured to: i) receive from a wireless device a signal instructing the wireless device's wireless communication circuit to enter a receive operation mode; ii) transmit configuration data to the wireless device as a result of the wireless device's wireless communication circuit entering the receive operation mode.

[0026] In one or more embodiments, the wireless communication circuitry of the base station may include a Bluetooth radio, such as a Bluetooth Low Energy radio. Attached Figure Description

[0027] One or more embodiments will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0028] Figure 1 This is an exemplary block diagram of a wireless sensor network according to one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0029] Figure 2 This is an exemplary circuit block diagram of a wireless sensor node according to one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0030] Figure 3A and Figure 3B This is a timing diagram of exemplary signals for operation of one or more embodiments of this specification; and

[0031] Figure 4 This is an exemplary circuit block diagram illustrating the operation of a wireless sensor node according to one or more embodiments of this specification. Detailed Implementation

[0032] In the following description, one or more specific details are shown to provide a thorough understanding of examples of embodiments described herein. Embodiments may be obtained without one or more specific details, or by utilizing other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, known structures, materials, or operations have not been shown or described in detail so as not to obscure certain aspects of the embodiments.

[0033] References to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" within the framework of this specification are intended to indicate that a particular configuration, structure, or feature described with respect to that embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Therefore, phrases such as "in an embodiment" or "in one embodiment" that may appear at one or more points in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, a particular configuration, structure, or feature may be combined in any suitable manner.

[0034] The headings / references used herein are provided for convenience only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection or the scope of the embodiments.

[0035] In the accompanying drawings, unless the context otherwise requires, the same parts or elements are indicated by the same reference numerals / numbers, and for the sake of brevity, the corresponding descriptions will not be repeated.

[0036] By introducing a detailed description of exemplary embodiments, first refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is an exemplary block diagram of a wireless sensor network 10.

[0037] The wireless sensor network 10 according to one or more embodiments may include a base station 101 and at least one wireless device 102 (e.g., an energy-autonomous, battery-free wireless sensor node – EABFWSN). The wireless device 102 may be provided with energy harvesting circuitry known per se, configured to harvest energy (e.g., solar, thermal, electromagnetic, etc.) from the environment in which the device 102 is placed. The harvested energy may be stored in an energy storage element of the wireless device 102, such as a capacitor. The base station 101 may include a wireless communication device or radio device 1010, such as a Bluetooth radio device, such as a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio device. The wireless device 102 may include a wireless communication device or radio device 1020, such as a Bluetooth radio, such as a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio. The radio communication devices 1010 and / or 1020 may be included in various on-chip systems that also provide other functionalities. For example, a device available from STMicroelectronics Group companies under the trade name “BlueNRG-2BLE Wireless system-on-chip” is an example of such an on-chip system suitable for use in one or more embodiments, as described in the online document “BlueNRG-2BLE Wireless system-on-chip” available at st.com. The information is disclosed in “Low Energy Wireless System-on-Chip”, DS 12166 – Revision 7 – December 2020 (incorporated by reference).

[0038] Therefore, base station 101 and wireless device 102 can wirelessly exchange data. Base station 101 can receive, collect, and process data BCNS (e.g., sensor data) transmitted by wireless device 102 (e.g., using a radio beacon). Wireless device 102 can receive, collect, and process data OTAP (e.g., configuration data) transmitted by base station 101.

[0039] Wireless device 102 may also include a processing unit (Pros.) 1021 (e.g., a low-power or ultra-low-power microcontroller unit) operatively coupled to wireless communication device 1020 for exchanging data with it. For example, microcontrollers with the trademarks STM32L052x6 and STM32L052x8 are available from companies in the STMicroelectronics Group, as described in the literature “STM32L052x6 STM32L052x8 – Ultra-Low-Power 32-Bit MCU-Based Microcontrollers”. of The "M0+, up to 64KB Flash, 8KBSRAM, 2KBEEPROM, USB, ADC, DAC", DS 10182 Revision 10 – February 2021 (in conjunction with reference), available online at st.com, is an example of such a microcontroller suitable for use in one or more embodiments. Therefore, data OTAP received from base station 101 can be transmitted to processing unit 1021, for example, to perform configuration, reconfiguration, and / or firmware updates of processing unit 1021.

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, base station 101 can also exchange data chat with control equipment or user equipment 103 (using a wireless or wired connection). Control equipment 103 may include mobile devices, such as smartphones.

[0041] Figure 2 This is an exemplary circuit block diagram of certain components of wireless device (sensor node) 102. As anticipated, wireless device 102 may include wireless communication device 1020 (hereinafter also referred to as radio 1020) and processing unit 1021 operatively coupled to radio 1020. Processing unit 1021 may provide radio power supply voltage V to radio device 1020. blue (e.g., via general purpose input / output, GPIO, pins of processing unit 1021), and can exchange signals with radio device 1020. For example, signals BTH and BLE_WFE can be transmitted from radio device 1020 to processing unit 1021, and / or signal BLE_TXE can be transmitted from processing unit 1021 to radio device 1020. The operation of radio device 102 involving such signals is further discussed below.

[0042] Additionally, the wireless device 102 may include an energy harvester 1022 (e.g., a photovoltaic cell, thermoelectric generator, induction generator, etc.) known per se, configured to generate an output voltage V between the positive supply voltage node 1023 and the reference supply voltage node 1024. stor The energy harvested by energy harvester 1022 can be stored in capacitor C arranged between nodes 1023 and 1024. stor In the middle. Stored in capacitor C stor The energy stored in the device can be released to power electronic circuitry included in the wireless device 102. For example, the microcontroller 1021 can be configured to receive a power supply voltage V from the node 1023. stor And / or another power supply voltage V generated at the intermediate node 1025 of the voltage divider circuit. mid The voltage divider circuit may include a first resistor R arranged in series between nodes 1023 and 1024. up Second resistor R down Node 1025 is set between two resistors R up and R down Between. Therefore, the other power supply voltage V mid It can be lower than the power supply voltage V stor Power supply voltage V stor It can also be equal to or lower than 3.3V.

[0043] In the wireless sensor network 10, the wireless device 102 can, as follows: Figure 3A and Figure 3B Operate as illustrated in the example to communicate with base station 101. Figure 3A An example voltage signal V stor (Solid line) and V blue The timing diagram is shown by the dashed line. Figure 3B This is a timing diagram of an exemplary transmission control signal BLE_TXE (dashed line). Figure 3A and Figure 3B As illustrated, wireless device 102 can alternate between a transmission phase TX (e.g., during the transmission phase TX, wireless device 1020, such as a BLE radio, is configured in a non-connection advertising mode) and a reception phase RX (e.g., during the reception phase RX, wireless device 1020 is configured in a reception mode such as a scanning mode). During the TX phase, wireless device 1020 can transmit multiple beacons N to base station 101. TB (e.g., fixed or programmable number) (e.g., such as) Figure 3A and Figure 3B (The seven beacons are illustrated in the example). The RX phase can have a value equal to T. idle The duration (e.g., fixed or programmable duration).

[0044] Note that the operation of base station 101 may not be power-constrained, provided that power is readily available to the base station (e.g., through the use of trunk power). Therefore, base station 101 can perform complex and power-intensive tasks. The OTA configuration of wireless device 102 may take into account various parameters, such as the power level transmitted during the TX phase, the duration T of the RX phase, etc. idle The number N of beacons transmitted during the TX phase. TB In order to configure wireless device 102 over the air, a reliable and stable connection must be provided between the configuration device (e.g., base station 101) and wireless device 102 for a sufficiently long period of time to complete the configuration process. Therefore, base station 101 can routinely (e.g., periodically) collect information about the amount of energy available to the wireless device (e.g., capacitor C). stor Information on the charging status.

[0045] For reference Figure 1 As is expected, base station 101 may include two communication interfaces.

[0046] A first communication interface can be provided between user equipment 103 and base station 101. User equipment 103 (possibly operated by a user) can, for example, transmit configuration data of wireless device 102 to base station 101 via an application (software) installed on user equipment 103 (e.g., a smartphone). Since both user equipment 103 and base station 101 can be easily powered, the user can conveniently transmit the desired amount of data to the base station via user equipment 103 without time and / or power limitations.

[0047] A second communication interface can be provided between base station 101 and wireless device 102. The status of wireless device 102 (e.g., regarding its charging status) can be communicated to base station 101 via this second communication interface at all times. For example, base station 101 can be notified when wireless device 102 has terminated the TX phase and entered the RX phase. Based on this, wireless device 102 can operate in observation mode during the RX phase. Base station 101 can transmit configuration parameters to wireless device 102 after the transmission phase (e.g., immediately after the end of the TX phase). By transmitting configuration data immediately after the end of the TX phase of wireless device 102, base station 101 knows it will detect that wireless device 102 is in RX mode.

[0048] The aforementioned system architecture can be advantageous within the observation (RX) phase, which can last for several seconds, and during this time, the wireless device 102 will perform several cycles in observation mode, depending on the available ambient energy. Therefore, the base station 101 can rely on the availability of a specific number of energy cycles to perform the over-the-air configuration (OTAC) process.

[0049] In one or more embodiments, communication between wireless device 1020 (e.g., a radio integrated circuit) and microcontroller 1021 (e.g., a microcontroller integrated circuit) can be half-duplex. Data can be transmitted only from wireless device 1020 to microcontroller 1021. Communication between circuits 1020 and 1021 can rely on breaking down the communication content into small pieces (e.g., blocks) of information, each piece being transmitted in different energy harvesting cycles of wireless device 102. Therefore, base station 101, informed of the current state of wireless device 102, facilitates synchronized communication operations and thus improves the management of data communication.

[0050] Once the configuration parameters are received by the wireless device 1020, they will be transmitted to the microcontroller 1021 while monitoring the energy available to complete the transmission process so that the wireless device 102 does not run out of power while transmitting configuration data to the microcontroller 1021.

[0051] Therefore, one or more embodiments may rely on minimizing (e.g., reducing) the energy consumed by data transmission between the radio device 1020 and the microcontroller 1021 as much as possible. To do this, a suitable serial interface between the radio device 1020 and the microcontroller 1021, such as a UART interface, an SPI interface, or an I2C interface, can be used. For example, reference Mikhaylov, K. et al., “Evaluation of power efficiency for digital serial interfaces of Microcontrollers,” 5th International Conference on New Technologies, Mobility and Security (NTMS), 2012, pp. 1–5, 2012 (incorporated by reference), discloses that the SPI interface has a typical power consumption of 2.5 μJ per byte, and the UART interface has a typical power consumption of 7.3 μJ per byte.

[0052] In one or more embodiments, the microcontroller 1021 may include a low-power UART (LPUART) interface, which may consume approximately 50% more power per transmitted byte than an SPI interface (e.g., approximately 5 μJ per byte). However, the LPUART interface can provide a favorable trade-off between power consumption and the required number of GPIOs.

[0053] Therefore, in order to perform the OTA configuration process, the communication between base station 101 and radio device 1020, and the communication between radio device 1020 and microcontroller 1021, can be managed using energy-efficient methods. The energy E consumed by this communication can be calculated according to Equation 1 reproduced below. OTAC :

[0054] E OTAC =E BLE_RX +E MCU +E UART +E M (1)

[0055] In detail, E BLE_RX This refers to the energy consumed by the radio device 1020 when operating in scan mode (RX phase). For example, as long as the radio device 1020 operates with a scan window of 10ms (minimum) and a scan interval of 100ms (T... idle ) operation, then E BLE_RX It could be approximately 42 μJ.

[0056] In detail, E MCU This refers to the energy consumed by the microcontroller 1021 during the communication process. For example, E MCU It can be approximately 4 μJ, provided that the microcontroller 1021 is operating in run mode with a CPU clock frequency of 131 kHz and an internal voltage regulator configured to provide an output voltage of 1.8 V.

[0057] In detail, E UART This is the energy consumed by the UART communication interface between the radio device 1020 and the microcontroller 1021. Energy E UART It can be calculated as contribution E UART_BLE and contribution E LPUART_MCU The sum. Contribution E UART_BLE The UART interface of the radio device 1020 transmits 2 bytes to the microcontroller 1021 (for example, 1 byte is used for T). idle 1 byte is used for N TB The energy consumed can be approximately 10 μJ. Contribution E LPUART_MCU The microcontroller 1021's UART interface receives 2 bytes from the radio 1020 (e.g., 1 byte for T). idle 1 byte is used for N TB The energy consumed can be approximately 10 μJ. Therefore, the energy E UART It can be approximately 20 μJ.

[0058] In detail, E M This refers to the energy consumed in programming the memory (e.g., EEPROM) of both the radio device 1020 and the microcontroller 1021. Energy E M It can be calculated as contribution E M_MCU Contribute E M_BLE_PE and contribution E M_BLE_WR The sum. Contribution E M_MCUThis refers to the energy consumed in storing 2 bytes of data into the memory of the microcontroller 1021; during this operation, the microcontroller 1021 can consume an average current of approximately 500 μA within a programming time of approximately 4 ms, resulting in energy E M_MCU It could be approximately 2.6 μJ = 12 μJ. Contribution E M_BLE_PE The energy consumed by the wireless device 1020 to erase an entire page of the radio memory (e.g., EEPROM memory); during this operation, the wireless device 1020 can consume an average current of approximately 500 μA over approximately 21.5 ms, resulting in energy E M_BLE_PE It could be approximately 32 μJ. Contribution E M_BLE_WR This refers to the energy consumed in storing 2 bytes of data into the memory of the radio device 1020; during this operation, the radio device 1020 can consume an average current of approximately 500 μA within a programming time of approximately 44 μs, resulting in energy E M_BLE_WR It can be approximately 130 nJ. Therefore, the energy E M It could be approximately 44 μJ.

[0059] Considering the magnitude of the exemplary performance parameters discussed above, Equation 1 indicates the energy E consumed in performing the OTA configuration process. OTAC The energy output can be on the order of 110 μJ, which is approximately 40% higher than the typical energy harvested by the wireless device 102 during a single energy harvesting cycle (harvest ≈ 80 μJ) in many applications. It should be understood that the OTA configuration process may require the exchange of two bytes of data, as illustrated herein, but in general, there is no theoretical limit to the amount of data that can be exchanged during the configuration process.

[0060] Therefore, one or more embodiments may rely on dividing the OTA configuration process into multiple distinct (e.g., time-separated) phases, each phase consuming energy equal to or less than that consumed by the storage capacitor C during a single energy harvesting cycle. stor The energy accumulated in it.

[0061] Purely as an example, the OTA configuration process can be divided into three distinct phases. In the first configuration phase, data transmitted by base station 101 can be received by radio device 1020 of wireless device 102 and stored in the local memory (e.g., flash memory or EEPROM) of radio device 1020. The amount of energy E1 consumed for these operations can be calculated according to the following reproduced Equation 2:

[0062] E1 = E BLE_RX +E M_BLE_WR ≈42μJ (2)

[0063] In the second configuration phase, the radio device 1020 can transfer data previously stored in its local memory to the microcontroller 1021 via a low-power UART interface. The microcontroller 1021 then stores this data in its local memory (e.g., EEPROM). Essentially, once powered, the radio device 1020 asserts the signal BLE_WFE to indicate to the microcontroller 1021 that new data has been stored in its memory, which the microcontroller 1021 can then retrieve. Therefore, the microcontroller 1021 continues to retrieve the data and subsequently stores it in its internal memory, notifying the radio device 1020 that the read operation has been successfully terminated. The amount of energy E2 consumed for these operations can be calculated according to the following reproduced Equation 3:

[0064] E2 = E MCU +E UART +E M_MCU ≈36μJ (3)

[0065] In the third configuration phase, the memory of the radio device 1020 can be reinitialized. Essentially, the radio device 1020 clears data from its internal (e.g., flash) memory and is ready to receive new data again in the next cycle (if available). The amount of energy E3 consumed for this operation can be calculated according to the following reproduced Equation 4:

[0066] E3 = E M_BLE_PE ≈32μJ (4)

[0067] refer to Figure 4 The operation of one or more embodiments can be further understood. Figure 4 This is an example diagram of possible operational steps performed by radio device 1020 and microcontroller 1021 in one or more embodiments.

[0068] According to exemplary equations 2, 3, and 4, as a result of dividing the OTA configuration process into smaller "tasks," the energy consumed to complete each task is less than the typical energy collected by the wireless device 102 during a single energy harvesting cycle. Therefore, one or more embodiments can provide greater freedom regarding the number of data bytes exchanged and can result in some additional energy margin that can be used to implement wider scan intervals and / or improve the efficiency of radio communication between the wireless device 102 and the base station 101.

[0069] In one or more embodiments, radio device 1020 may be configured to store received data and current data in different reserved memory allocations to allow the operations discussed previously with reference to the “Second” and “Third” configuration phases. For example, radio device 1020 may be configured (e.g., each time radio device 1020 is powered on) to check whether data was received and stored in (e.g., flash memory) memory during the previous communication cycle. If the check shows that new data is stored in memory, radio device 1020 may immediately begin the communication process with microcontroller 1021. Otherwise, radio device 1020 may continue to operate as a radio beacon or data receiver. The check can be performed by comparing the received data value with a default initialization value. If the value read from local memory after radio device 1020 is powered on differs from the initialization value, radio device 1020 may begin the communication process with microcontroller 1021 by asserting (e.g., setting to a high logic value) the signal BLE_WFE, such as Figure 4 The example is illustrated in step 402 (“Flash Programming”). In response to the assertion of the signal BLE_WFE received by microcontroller 1021, the LPUART interface of microcontroller 1021 can be initialized, as follows: Figure 4 Step 404 (“LPUART Initialization”) is shown in the table. In response to the initialization of the LPUART interface, as... Figure 4 As illustrated in step 406 (“LPUART End Startup”), microcontroller 1021 can switch (e.g., assert) the BLE_TXE signal to confirm that radio device 1020 and microcontroller 1021 are ready to receive data. In response to the detected change in the state of the BLE_TXE signal, radio device 1020 can begin transmitting data to microcontroller 1021 via the UART communication interface, such as... Figure 4 The steps 408 (“UART”), 410 (“LPUART Communication”), and the signal UART_TX are illustrated in the diagram. The microcontroller 1021 can read data from the UART_TX signal and store it in a corresponding memory (e.g., EEPROM memory), such as... Figure 4 The examples are illustrated in box 412 (“CPU”) and step 414 (“EEPROM”).

[0070] After data transmission, the radio device 1020 can write specific words to a selected area of ​​the corresponding memory, which is checked after each power-on. This action causes the radio device 1020 to reinitialize the corresponding memory during the third configuration phase, such as... Figure 4As shown in step 416 (“Flash Initialization”). Once the data has been transmitted to the microcontroller 1021, the wireless device 1020 can assert the “BTH” (Back to Harvest) signal received at the CPU 412 in order to reset the wireless device 102 to power harvesting state again (e.g., as quickly as possible), as... Figure 4 exemplified in .

[0071] Figure 4 Also illustrated is the GPIO interface 418 of the microcontroller 1021, which is configured to provide radio power voltage V to the radio device 1020. blue .

[0072] In one or more embodiments, an acknowledgment process can be implemented to signal successful data transmission. Configuration parameter T idle and N TB This can be part of a BLE advertising data packet, enabling base station 101 to receive configuration parameters from wireless device 102 and compare them with previously transmitted configuration parameters once wireless device 102 is reconfigured and begins transmitting again. If the comparison returns a positive result (i.e., the parameters previously transmitted by base station 101 are the same as those subsequently received from wireless device 102), base station 101 can stop transmitting configuration data packets (OTAP) to wireless device 102, and the configuration process is complete. Furthermore, the configuration of wireless device 102, which transmits configuration parameters, can be easily checked via a Bluetooth sniffer or smartphone application.

[0073] One or more embodiments may therefore provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0074] - Improve the flexibility of wireless devices by using easier configuration, reconfiguration and / or firmware updates;

[0075] - Capable of introducing options and features with a low-cost architecture;

[0076] - Reduced maintenance costs; and

[0077] - The possibility of easily configuring wireless devices (e.g., energy-autonomous, battery-free wireless sensor nodes) in a variety of environments, including harsh environments.

[0078] Without violating the basic principles and without departing from the scope of protection, the details and embodiments may vary significantly from what has been described by example only.

[0079] The claims form an integral part of the technical teachings provided herein regarding the embodiments.

[0080] The scope of protection is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a wireless device, wherein the wireless device comprises: An energy harvester and an energy storage element coupled to the energy harvester, the energy harvester and the energy storage element being configured to alternately harvest energy from the surrounding environment and release energy for powering the wireless device in a series of energy harvesting cycles; Processing circuitry; and wireless communication circuits; The methods include: i) Receive from the wireless device at the base station a signal instructing the wireless communication circuit to enter a receive operation mode; ii) In response to the signal instructing the wireless communication circuit to enter a receive operation mode, configuration data is transmitted from the base station to the wireless device, and the received configuration data is temporarily stored in the memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit of the wireless device; and iii) Transmit the temporarily stored configuration data from the wireless communication circuit to the processing circuit, and store the received configuration data in the memory area of ​​the processing circuit of the wireless device; Steps ii) and iii) are performed during different energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: iv) Erasing the configuration data temporarily stored in the memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit, wherein step iv) is performed during a different energy harvesting cycle of the wireless device relative to the energy harvesting cycle in which steps ii) and iii) are performed.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein steps ii) and iii) are performed during a subsequent energy harvesting cycle of the wireless device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein steps ii), iii) and iv) are performed during subsequent energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising checking whether the data stored in the memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit is different from a reference value, and performing step iii in response to the data stored in the memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit being different from the reference value.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The configuration data stored in the memory area of ​​the processing circuit is transmitted from the wireless device to the base station as comparison data; At the base station, the comparison data is compared with the configuration data previously transmitted from the base station to the wireless device; as well as In response to the comparison data being equal to the configuration data previously transmitted from the base station to the wireless device, the transmission of the configuration data through the base station is terminated.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising periodically receiving information data at the base station from the wireless device indicating the amount of energy stored in the energy storage element of the wireless device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein steps ii), iii), and iv) are performed in response to the amount of energy stored in the energy storage element exceeding a certain threshold.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein steps ii) and iii) are performed in response to the amount of energy stored in the energy storage element exceeding a certain threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the temporarily stored configuration data from the wireless communication circuit to the processing circuit comprises transmitting the temporarily stored configuration data via one of the following: a UART communication interface, a low-power UART communication interface, an SPI communication interface, or an I2C communication interface.

11. A wireless device for use in a wireless sensor network, the wireless device comprising: Energy harvester; An energy storage element is coupled to the energy harvester; The energy harvester and the energy storage element are configured to alternately harvest energy from the surrounding environment and release energy to power the wireless device during a series of energy harvesting cycles. Processing circuitry; as well as The wireless communication circuit is configured as follows: i) Transmitting a signal to the base station instructing the wireless communication circuit to enter the receive operation mode; ii) In response to the wireless communication circuit entering the receive operation mode, configuration data is received from the base station, and the received configuration data is temporarily stored in the memory area of ​​the wireless communication circuit; as well as iii) Transmit the temporarily stored configuration data to the processing circuit; The processing circuitry is configured to store the configuration data in a memory area; Steps ii) and iii) are performed during different energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is configured to periodically switch between a transmission operation mode and a reception operation mode.

13. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication circuitry comprises a Bluetooth-based radio.

14. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry and the wireless communication circuitry are configured to exchange signals with each other in half-duplex mode.

15. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the communication interface between the processing circuit and the wireless communication circuit comprises one of the following: a UART communication interface, a low-power UART communication interface, an SPI communication interface, or an I2C communication interface.

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