Active and passive communication node hybrid access method, object-side node, gateway and system

Abstract

The present disclosure proposes a hybrid access method for active and passive communication nodes, an object-side node, a gateway, and a system, and relates to the field of the Internet of Things. The access gateway sends a trigger frame, and after the wake-up receiver on the object-side node receives the trigger frame, it wakes up the object-side node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway. The access gateway uses the control frame to control the communication mode, communication duration, data transmission mode, and other channel access processes of each object-side node in the network. The present disclosure can achieve the coexistence of active and passive communication modes, and under the premise of ensuring extremely low power consumption of the object-side node, it can effectively reduce the probability of collision, avoid active communication signals covering passive communication signals, and improve network capacity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of Internet of Things, and in particular to a method, node device, node, and system for hybrid access of heterogeneous nodes in a scenario where active communication nodes and passive communication nodes coexist. Background Art

[0002] Currently, the Internet of Things has become one of the key industries for development both domestically and internationally. To meet the data transmission requirements of IoT nodes, researchers have designed a variety of wireless communication technologies. These technologies can be divided into two types based on the different carrier generation methods:

[0003] 1) Active communication technology

[0004] Such as Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT, ZigBee, etc.

[0005] In this technology, a transmitter actively transmits electromagnetic signals. Specifically, the transmitter uses an oscillator to generate a carrier signal. A mixer modulates the I and Q data onto the carrier signal. A power amplifier then increases the power of the modulated signal, and the electromagnetic signal is radiated through an antenna. The oscillator, mixer, and power amplifier all consume significant power, resulting in high power consumption in the transmitter, typically exceeding tens of milliwatts.

[0006] 2) Passive communication technology

[0007] Such as Ambient Backscatter, Inter-Technology Backscatter, ucode, etc.

[0008] In this technology, the physical node uses the principle of electromagnetic wave backscatter to parasitically modulate the data to be sent on the dynamically changing environmental electromagnetic waves (or dedicated electromagnetic waves) without using high-power devices such as oscillators, mixers, power amplifiers, and complex digital operations such as matrix transformation, so as to achieve ultra-low power wireless communication.

[0009] Since this wireless communication method based on backscattering does not require the transmitter to actively generate electromagnetic signals, it is also called "passive communication" (as opposed to active communication).

[0010] Active communication technology and passive communication technology each have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of active communication are: high signal power, stable signal strength, high communication reliability, and fast communication speed. Its main disadvantage is that the communication power consumption on both the receiving and transmitting ends is very high, generally more than tens of milliwatts, which will greatly reduce the survival time of the end node. The advantage of passive communication is that the communication power consumption on the transmitting end is at an extremely low level (tens of microwatts), so that the communication module can continue to operate for a long time without sleeping. Its disadvantages are: low reflected signal strength, drastic signal fluctuations, unstable communication quality, significant impact from the environment, and very low communication reliability. It is more suitable for general data transmission.

[0011] The inventors have discovered that as IoT applications expand to larger scales and deeper domains, the communication requirements of IoT nodes are becoming increasingly diverse. These nodes are often required to possess both active and passive communication capabilities, and to be able to dynamically switch between active and passive communication based on factors such as data transmission requirements and channel environments. Consequently, in the same network, it is possible for both IoT nodes using active and passive communication technologies to coexist. Coordinating the data transmission between these two types of nodes to avoid collisions is a pressing issue, but currently no mature solution is available. Summary of the Invention

[0012] A technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present disclosure is: when there are both physical end nodes using active communication technology and physical end nodes using passive communication technology in the network, how to meet the data transmission requirements of these two nodes, reduce the probability of collision, avoid active communication signals covering up passive communication signals, and improve network capacity.

[0013] The technical solutions adopted in this disclosure are:

[0014] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hybrid access method for active and passive communication nodes, which is applied to a communication network composed of an object node and an access gateway. The object node includes a microcontroller, a dual-receiver structure, and a dual-transmitter structure, wherein the dual-transmitter structure includes a passive transmitter, an active transmitter, and a first programmable power domain. The dual-receiver structure includes a wake-up receiver, a main receiver, and a second programmable power domain. The first programmable power domain is responsible for powering the active transmitter and controlling the power supply voltage according to high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. The second programmable power domain is responsible for powering the main receiver and controlling the power supply voltage according to high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. When the object node is in sleep mode, only the wake-up receiver and the passive transmitter are active.

[0015] The method comprises the following steps:

[0016] The access gateway sends a trigger frame;

[0017] After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical end node wakes up the physical end node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway;

[0018] The access gateway uses control frames to control the active and passive communication modes, communication duration, and data transmission methods of each physical node in the network;

[0019] The physical end node adjusts the communication mode and sends data according to the control frame requirements.

[0020] In some embodiments, the trigger frame includes a wake-up field domain, a frame header domain, and a check value domain; after the wake-up receiver on the object node receives the trigger frame, it sends an interrupt request to the microcontroller to wake up the microcontroller. The microcontroller processes the interrupt request, controls the second programmable power domain to output the power supply voltage, turns on the main receiver, and waits for receiving the control frame.

[0021] In some embodiments, after sending the trigger frame, the access gateway waits for a period of time, and then sends a control frame in a broadcast manner; the control frame includes a communication duration field, a switching information field, a node identification field, and a duration type field.

[0022] In some embodiments, after receiving the control frame, the physical node performs the following steps:

[0023] Step 1: The physical node uses a microcontroller to generate high and low level values ​​to control the second programmable power domain to shut down the main receiver;

[0024] Step 2: The physical node reads the duration value in the communication duration field, uses this value as the timing duration, and starts the timer. After the timer times out, the physical node goes back to sleep.

[0025] Step 3: The physical node reads the switching information domain to check whether there is a communication mode switching instruction for this node. If there is such an instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node is switched according to the instruction; if there is no such instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node remains unchanged.

[0026] Step 4: The object node reads the node identification field and determines whether the field contains an identification list; if the identification list exists, jump to step 6; otherwise, execute step 5;

[0027] Step 5: The object node determines whether the node appears in the identification list; if the node identification does not appear in the identification list, the object node enters the sleep mode; if the node identification appears in the identification list, the object node executes step 6;

[0028] Step 6: The object node reads the duration type field. If the communication mode of the object node matches the value of the field, the object node proceeds to step 7; otherwise, the object node directly enters the sleep mode.

[0029] Step 7: If the communication mode of the object node is active communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the object node starts the active transmitter and accesses the channel in ALOHA or CSMA mode to send the perception data; if the communication mode of the object node is passive communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the data is directly sent to the channel through the passive transmitter, regardless of whether other nodes are using the channel. The access gateway uses the Laissez-Faire method to distinguish the data sent by different object nodes through passive communication through the upper and lower edges of the data waveform.

[0030] In some embodiments, the active transmitter and the main receiver use Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT, WiFi or Sigfox for wireless communication, or the active transmitter uses a dedicated wireless transmitting module constructed using the "RF front end + analog front end + FPGA" method, and the main receiver uses a dedicated wireless receiving module constructed using the "RF front end + analog front end + FPGA" method.

[0031] In some embodiments, the passive transmitter includes an impedance array, a radio frequency switch and an instruction mapping module; wherein the instruction mapping module implements instruction mapping in one of the following ways: FSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, ASK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, BPSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, DBPSK adjustment method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, and MSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering.

[0032] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a physical node, including a microcontroller, a dual-receiver structure, and a dual-transmitter structure. The dual-transmitter structure includes a passive transmitter, an active transmitter, and a first programmable power domain. The dual-receiver structure includes a wake-up receiver, a main receiver, and a second programmable power domain. The first programmable power domain is responsible for powering the active transmitter and controlling the power supply voltage according to high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. The second programmable power domain is responsible for powering the main receiver and controlling the power supply voltage according to high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. When the physical node is in sleep mode, only the wake-up receiver and the passive transmitter are active.

[0033] After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical end node wakes up the physical end node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway, and then adjusts the communication mode and sends data according to the control frame requirements.

[0034] Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose an access gateway, comprising a memory and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to send a trigger frame to an object-side node based on instructions stored in the memory, wait for a period of time, and then send a control frame in a broadcast manner, thereby controlling the active and passive communication mode, communication duration, and data sending mode of each object-side node.

[0035] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hybrid access system of active and passive communication nodes, including a physical node, an access gateway, and a radio frequency source node, wherein the radio frequency source node is configured to send electromagnetic signals outward.

[0036] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0037] When both physical end nodes using active communication technology and physical end nodes using passive communication technology appear in the network at the same time, the active and passive communications of various types of physical end nodes in the network are controlled based on the dual-transmitter structure and programmable power domain settings, as well as the control frame control system. This meets the data transmission requirements of these two types of nodes, reduces the probability of collisions, avoids active communication signals covering up passive communication signals, and improves network capacity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The following briefly introduces the drawings required for describing the embodiments or related technologies. The present disclosure can be more clearly understood based on the following detailed description with reference to the drawings.

[0039] Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. A person skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative work.

[0040] Figure 1 Shows the block diagram of the network system composition.

[0041] Figure 2 Shows the transceiver structure on the physical end node.

[0042] Figure 3 Shows the circuit structure of the wake-up receiver.

[0043] Figure 4 The working principle of the dynamic trigger hybrid access technology is shown.

[0044] Figure 5 Shows the format of the control frame.

[0045] Figure 6 Shows the information flow and node status of dynamically triggered hybrid access technology.

[0046] Figure 7 Shows the control frame processing flow.

[0047] Figure 8 Shows the format of the trigger frame. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0049] Unless otherwise specified, descriptions such as “first” and “second” in the present disclosure are used to distinguish different objects and are not used to indicate meanings such as size or time sequence.

[0050] A hybrid access method for active and passive communication nodes is applied to a communication network consisting of an object-side node and an access gateway. The object-side node includes a microcontroller, a dual-receiver structure, and a dual-transmitter structure. The dual-transmitter structure includes a passive transmitter, an active transmitter, and a first programmable power domain. The dual-receiver structure includes a wake-up receiver, a main receiver, and a second programmable power domain. The first programmable power domain is responsible for powering the active transmitter and controlling the power supply voltage based on high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. The second programmable power domain is responsible for powering the main receiver and controlling the power supply voltage based on high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. When the object-side node is in sleep mode, only the wake-up receiver and the passive transmitter are active.

[0051] The method comprises the following steps:

[0052] The access gateway sends a trigger frame;

[0053] After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical end node wakes up the physical end node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway;

[0054] The access gateway uses control frames to control the active and passive communication modes, communication duration, and data transmission methods of each physical node in the network;

[0055] The physical end node adjusts the communication mode and sends data according to the control frame requirements.

[0056] The trigger frame includes a wakeup field, a frame header field, and a check value field;

[0057] After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical node sends an interrupt request to the microcontroller to wake up the microcontroller. The microcontroller processes the interrupt request, controls the second programmable power domain to output the supply voltage, turns on the main receiver, and waits for receiving the control frame.

[0058] After sending the trigger frame, the access gateway waits for a period of time, and then sends a control frame in a broadcast manner; the control frame includes a communication duration field, a switching information field, a node identification field, and a duration type field.

[0059] After receiving the control frame, the physical node performs the following steps:

[0060] Step 1: The physical node uses a microcontroller to generate high and low level values ​​to control the second programmable power domain to shut down the main receiver;

[0061] Step 2: The physical node reads the duration value in the communication duration field, uses this value as the timing duration, and starts the timer. After the timer times out, the physical node goes back to sleep.

[0062] Step 3: The physical node reads the switching information domain to check whether there is a communication mode switching instruction for this node. If there is such an instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node is switched according to the instruction; if there is no such instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node remains unchanged.

[0063] Step 4: The object node reads the node identification field and determines whether the field contains an identification list; if the identification list exists, jump to step 6; otherwise, execute step 5;

[0064] Step 5: The object node determines whether the node appears in the identification list; if the node identification does not appear in the identification list, the object node enters the sleep mode; if the node identification appears in the identification list, the object node executes step 6;

[0065] Step 6: The object node reads the duration type field. If the communication mode of the object node matches the value of the field, the object node proceeds to step 7; otherwise, the object node directly enters the sleep mode.

[0066] Step 7: If the communication mode of the object node is active communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the object node starts the active transmitter and accesses the channel in ALOHA or CSMA mode to send the perception data; if the communication mode of the object node is passive communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the data is directly sent to the channel through the passive transmitter, regardless of whether other nodes are using the channel. The access gateway uses the Laissez-Faire method to distinguish the data sent by different object nodes through passive communication through the upper and lower edges of the data waveform.

[0067] The active transmitter and the main receiver use Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT, WiFi or Sigfox for wireless communication. Alternatively, the active transmitter uses a dedicated wireless transmitting module built in the "RF front end + analog front end + FPGA" manner for wireless communication, and the main receiver uses a dedicated wireless receiving module built in the "RF front end + analog front end + FPGA" manner for wireless communication.

[0068] The passive transmitter includes an impedance array, a radio frequency switch and a command mapping module; wherein the command mapping module implements command mapping in one of the following ways: an FSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, an ASK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, a BPSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, a DBPSK adjustment method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, and an MSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering.

[0069] A physical end node includes a microcontroller, a dual-receiver structure, and a dual-transmitter structure. The dual-transmitter structure includes a passive transmitter, an active transmitter, and a first programmable power domain. The dual-receiver structure includes a wake-up receiver, a main receiver, and a second programmable power domain. The first programmable power domain is responsible for powering the active transmitter and controlling the power supply voltage according to high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. The second programmable power domain is responsible for powering the main receiver and controlling the power supply voltage according to high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. When the physical end node is in sleep mode, only the wake-up receiver and the passive transmitter are active.

[0070] After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical end node wakes up the physical end node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway, and then adjusts the communication mode and sends data according to the control frame requirements.

[0071] An access gateway includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to send a trigger frame to an object-side node based on instructions stored in the memory, wait for a period of time, and then send a control frame in a broadcast manner, thereby controlling the active and passive communication mode, communication duration, and data transmission mode of each object-side node.

[0072] A hybrid access system of active and passive communication nodes includes the above-mentioned physical terminal node, an access gateway, and a radio frequency source node, wherein the radio frequency source node is configured to send electromagnetic signals outward.

[0073] The following is a detailed description of the technical points of the system:

[0074] 1. System composition

[0075] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the entire network includes three network elements: radio frequency source F, physical node S, and access gateway A. Their functions are:

[0076] 1) RF source F

[0077] It is the provider of electromagnetic signals.

[0078] Responsible for sending out single voice electromagnetic signals The electromagnetic signal can provide a carrier signal to the passive communication module on the physical end node.

[0079] 2) Physical node S

[0080] It is the sender of perception data and the receiver of control instructions.

[0081] In the network, there may be multiple physical end nodes (respectively denoted as S1, S2, ..., S n ), these physical end nodes have both active and passive communication capabilities, and can dynamically switch the communication mode between active and passive communication.

[0082] 3) Access Gateway A

[0083] It is the control center and data processing center of the entire network.

[0084] Responsible for receiving and processing active communication signals and passive communication signals sent by the physical end node.

[0085] It is also responsible for issuing control instructions to the physical end nodes to control the operation of the entire network.

[0086] 2. Object-end nodes

[0087] Figure 2 The system block diagram of the physical end node is given, which adopts a dual transmitter (passive transmitter and active transmitter) and dual receiver structure (wake-up receiver and main receiver).

[0088] 1) Dual transmitter structure

[0089] It includes a passive transmitter, an active transmitter and a programmable power domain 1.

[0090] (1) Passive transmitter: provides passive communication capability, mainly composed of RF switch, impedance array (including Z0, Z1, ..., Z n The command mapping is responsible for mapping the data to be sent into a series of high and low level values. These high and low level values ​​can be used to control the RF switch to switch between different impedances in the impedance array.

[0091] (2) Active transmitter: provides active communication capabilities for the physical node, mainly composed of DAC, filter, mixer, power amplifier, oscillator, baseband processing and other parts.

[0092] (3) Programmable Power Domain 1: This is a power management module designed specifically for the active transmitter. It is responsible for supplying power to the active transmitter (the supply voltage is V1). Programmable Power Domain 1 can control the supply voltage V1 based on the specific high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller.

[0093] Considering that the energy carried by physical nodes is generally very limited, to ensure that the power consumption of physical nodes is at an ultra-low level most of the time, the passive transmitter is required to be always active and the active transmitter is in the off state (the output voltage of programmable power domain 1 is V1 = 0). Physical nodes mainly use the passive transmitter to send data.

[0094] Only when the channel characteristics become worse, or the business has high requirements for communication speed and passive communication can no longer meet the needs, can the active transmitter be temporarily used to send data. At this time, the microcontroller needs to send specific high and low level values ​​to the programmable power domain 1 to control the programmable power domain 1 to output the appropriate supply voltage V1 to activate the active transmitter.

[0095] 2) Dual receiver structure

[0096] Includes wake-up receiver, main receiver and programmable power domain 2.

[0097] (1) Wake-up receiver: It is mainly composed of resistors, capacitors and other components. Its receiving sensitivity is not high, but its power consumption is extremely low. Figure 3 A design method of wake-up receiver is given.

[0098] (2) Main receiver: used to receive control commands sent by the access gateway, mainly composed of low noise amplifier, mixer, oscillator, filter, ADC, baseband processing and other parts.

[0099] (4) Programmable Power Domain 2: This is a power management module designed specifically for the main receiver. It is responsible for supplying power to the main receiver (supply voltage V2). Programmable Power Domain 2 can control the supply voltage V2 based on specific high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller.

[0100] Considering that the energy carried by the physical node is generally very limited, in order to ensure that the power consumption of the physical node is at an ultra-low level most of the time, the wake-up receiver is always active on the physical node and the main receiver is in the off state (the output voltage of the programmable power domain 2 is V2 = 0).

[0101] When the main receiver needs to receive control instructions, the microcontroller needs to send specific high and low level values ​​to the programmable power domain 2 to control the programmable power domain 2 to output the appropriate supply voltage V2 to activate the main receiver.

[0102] 3. Hybrid access mode

[0103] Figure 4 The working principle of hybrid access technology is given. Figure 6The information flow and node status of the dynamic trigger hybrid access technology are given (taking the physical end node S1 as an example). Among them, A1 represents the access gateway, S1, S2, ..., S N Indicates different object end nodes. Each object end node uses Figure 2 The dual transmitter and dual receiver structure shown in the figure. The process of hybrid access technology is:

[0104] 1) General stage

[0105] (1) Access gateway A1 controls the data transmission process of all physical nodes in the entire network. A1 is the center of the entire network, and the physical nodes receive and send data according to the requirements of A1.

[0106] (2) In general, the physical node is in sleep mode and only the receiver is awakened (e.g. Figure 2 as shown) and passive transmitters (as Figure 2 shown) is active.

[0107] 2) Triggering phase

[0108] (1) When access gateway A1 needs to send a control frame, it must first send a trigger frame (or wake-up signal) (denoted as M t ), the role of the trigger frame is to notify all the physical nodes in the network to prepare to receive the control instructions to be sent by line A1.

[0109] (2) The wake-up receiver on the physical node receives the trigger frame M t After that, an interrupt is sent to the microcontroller to wake up the microcontroller from sleep mode and put it into working mode;

[0110] (3) After entering the working mode, the microcontroller processes the interrupt request sent by the wake-up receiver and sends specific high and low level values ​​to the programmable power domain 2 to control the programmable power domain 2 to output the appropriate power supply voltage to turn on the main receiver and wait for the reception of the control frame.

[0111] 3) Control processing stage

[0112] (1) After sending the trigger frame, the access gateway τ1 waits for a period of time. Then, A1 broadcasts the control frame M c The control frame format is as follows. Figure 5 shown.

[0113] In M cThe control frame includes (but is not limited to) the "communication duration field", "switching information field", "node identification field", "duration type field", etc. Among them, (1) the "communication duration field" is used to record the duration of the subsequent duration; (2) the "switching information field" is used to change the communication mode of a specific object node (using this field, A1 can require the object node to change the communication mode from active communication to passive communication, or vice versa). (3) The "node identification field" is an optional field. When this field exists in the control frame, the subsequent communication duration can only be used by the object node specified in the control frame; when this field does not exist in the control frame, the object node that meets the requirements of the "duration type field" can use this communication duration to transmit data. (4) The "duration type field" is used to indicate the type of object node that can use the subsequent duration, such as active communication node and passive communication node.

[0114] (2) After receiving the control frame, if Figure 7 As shown, the physical end node needs to perform the following processing (taking physical end node S1 as an example):

[0115] Step 1: S1 uses the microcontroller to generate specific high and low level values ​​to control the programmable power domain 2 to shut down the main receiver to save power consumption of the end node.

[0116] Step 2: After S1 reads the "communication duration field", it records the duration value stored in the field as τ, then S1 starts the timer with a timing duration of τ. After the timer times out, S1 goes back to sleep.

[0117] Step 3: S1 reads the "Switching Information Domain" to check whether there is a communication mode switching instruction for this node. If such an instruction exists in the "Switching Information Domain", the communication mode of this node is switched according to the instruction; if such an instruction does not exist in the "Switching Information Domain", the communication mode of this node remains unchanged.

[0118] Step 4: S1 reads the "node identification field" and determines whether it contains an identification list (i.e., checks whether the field length n in the "node identification field" is equal to 0). If an identification list exists (i.e., n is not equal to 0), then jump to step 6; otherwise, execute step 5.

[0119] Step 5: S1 determines whether the node is in the ID list (read from the "Node ID field" of the control frame). If the node ID is not in the ID list, S1 enters sleep mode. If the node ID is in the ID list, S1 executes step 6.

[0120] Step 6: S1 reads the "Duration Type Field". If S1's communication mode matches the value of this field, S1 proceeds to step 7; otherwise, S1 directly enters sleep mode.

[0121] Step 7: If S1's communication mode is active, when it has data to send to the access gateway, the physical node S1 needs to start the active transmitter and access the channel in ALOHA or CSMA mode to send the perception data; if S1's communication mode is passive, when it has data to send to the access gateway, the node directly sends the data to the channel through the passive transmitter without considering whether other nodes are using the channel.

[0122] Specifically, Figure 2 The active transmitter can use commercial wireless communication technologies and chips such as Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT, WiFi, Sigfox, etc., or use the "RF front end + analog front end + FPGA" method to build a dedicated wireless transmission module.

[0123] Figure 2 The main receiver in the system can also use commercial wireless communication technologies and chips such as Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT, WiFi, Sigfox, etc., or use the "RF front end + analog front end + FPGA" method to build a dedicated wireless receiving module.

[0124] Figure 2 The "command mapping" method in the "passive transmitter" can be: (1) FSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering; (2) ASK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering; (3) BPSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering; (4) DBPSK adjustment method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering; (5) MSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, etc.

[0125] exist Figure 4 The passive communication duration shown in the figure indicates that when an object node has data to send to the access gateway, it directly sends the data into the channel, regardless of whether other nodes are already using the channel. At this point, the access gateway can use methods such as Laissez-Faire to distinguish data sent by different object nodes based on the rising and falling edges of the data waveform and successfully demodulate it.

[0126] Figure 8 An optional format for a trigger frame is presented, consisting of a wakeup field, a frame header, and a checksum. The wakeup field consists of a series of alternating 0s and 1s, and needs to be long enough to allow the physical node to wake up within its duration. The frame header, used to identify the start of a frame, can use a pseudo-random sequence with good autocorrelation properties, such as an m-sequence, OVSF code, or Barker code. The checksum is a checksum sequence generated by a digest algorithm such as MD5 or SHA, by inputting the data in the frame header into the checksum.

[0127] In summary, the present disclosure can achieve the coexistence of active communication modes and passive communication modes. Under the premise of ensuring extremely low power consumption of the physical end node, it can effectively reduce the probability of collision, avoid active communication signals covering passive communication signals, and improve network capacity.

[0128] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present disclosure may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer program code.

[0129] The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0130] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0131] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operational steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device for implementing the process. Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A step that specifies a function in one or more boxes.

[0132] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure should be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for hybrid access of active and passive communication nodes, characterized in that: The invention is applied to a communication network composed of an object node and an access gateway. The object node includes a microcontroller, a dual-receiver structure, and a dual-transmitter structure. The dual-transmitter structure includes a passive transmitter, an active transmitter, and a first programmable power domain. The dual-receiver structure includes a wake-up receiver, a main receiver, and a second programmable power domain. The first programmable power domain is responsible for powering the active transmitter and controlling the power supply voltage according to the high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. The second programmable power domain is responsible for powering the main receiver and controlling the power supply voltage according to the high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. When the object node is in sleep mode, only the wake-up receiver and the passive transmitter are active. The method comprises the following steps: The access gateway sends a trigger frame; After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical end node wakes up the physical end node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway; The access gateway uses control frames to control the active and passive communication modes, communication duration, and data transmission mode of each object node in the network; the object node adjusts the communication mode and sends data according to the control frame requirements. After receiving the control frame, the physical node performs the following steps: Step 1: The physical node uses a microcontroller to generate high and low level values ​​to control the second programmable power domain to shut down the main receiver; Step 2: The physical node reads the duration value in the communication duration field, uses this value as the timing duration, and starts the timer. After the timer times out, the physical node goes back to sleep. Step 3: The physical node reads the switching information domain to check whether there is a communication mode switching instruction for this node. If there is such an instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node is switched according to the instruction; if there is no such instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node remains unchanged. Step 4: The object node reads the node identification field and determines whether the field contains an identification list; if the identification list does not exist, jump to step 6; otherwise, execute step 5; Step 5: The object node determines whether the node appears in the identification list; if the node identification does not appear in the identification list, the object node enters the sleep mode; if the node identification appears in the identification list, the object node executes step 6; Step 6: The object node reads the duration type field. If the communication mode of the object node matches the value of the field, the object node proceeds to step 7; otherwise, the object node directly enters the sleep mode. Step 7: If the communication mode of the object node is active communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the object node starts the active transmitter and accesses the channel in ALOHA or CSMA mode to send the perception data; if the communication mode of the object node is passive communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the data is directly sent to the channel through the passive transmitter, regardless of whether other nodes are using the channel. The access gateway uses the Laissez-Faire method to distinguish the data sent by different object nodes through passive communication through the upper and lower edges of the data waveform.

2. The method for hybrid access of active and passive communication nodes according to claim 1, characterized in that: The trigger frame includes a wake-up field, a frame header field, and a check value field; After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical node sends an interrupt request to the microcontroller to wake up the microcontroller. The microcontroller processes the interrupt request, controls the second programmable power domain to output the supply voltage, turns on the main receiver, and waits for receiving the control frame.

3. The method for hybrid access of active and passive communication nodes according to claim 1, characterized in that: After sending the trigger frame, the access gateway waits for a period of time, and then sends a control frame in a broadcast manner; the control frame includes a communication duration field, a switching information field, a node identification field, and a duration type field.

4. The method for hybrid access of active and passive communication nodes according to claim 1, characterized in that: The active transmitter and the main receiver use Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT, WiFi, or Sigfox for wireless communication. Alternatively, the active transmitter uses a dedicated wireless transmitting module built using the "RF front-end + analog front-end + FPGA" method for wireless communication, and the main receiver uses a dedicated wireless receiving module built using the "RF front-end + analog front-end + FPGA" method for wireless communication.

5. The method for hybrid access of active and passive communication nodes according to claim 1, characterized in that: The passive transmitter includes an impedance array, a radio frequency switch and a command mapping module; wherein the command mapping module implements command mapping in one of the following ways: an FSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, an ASK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, a BPSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, a DBPSK adjustment method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering, and an MSK modulation method based on electromagnetic wave backscattering.

6. A physical node, characterized in that: The invention comprises a microcontroller, a dual-receiver structure and a dual-transmitter structure, wherein the dual-transmitter structure comprises a passive transmitter, an active transmitter and a first programmable power domain; the dual-receiver structure comprises a wake-up receiver, a main receiver and a second programmable power domain; The first programmable power domain is responsible for supplying power to the active transmitter and controls the power supply voltage according to the high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller; The second programmable power domain is responsible for powering the main receiver and controlling the supply voltage based on the high and low level values ​​sent by the microcontroller. When the physical node is in sleep mode, only the wake-up receiver and the passive transmitter are active. After receiving the trigger frame, the wake-up receiver on the physical end node wakes up the physical end node and starts the main receiver to receive the control frame sent by the access gateway. Then, it adjusts the communication mode and sends data according to the control frame requirements. After receiving the control frame, the physical node performs the following steps: Step 1: The physical node uses a microcontroller to generate high and low level values ​​to control the second programmable power domain to shut down the main receiver; Step 2: The physical node reads the duration value in the communication duration field, uses this value as the timing duration, and starts the timer. After the timer times out, the physical node goes back to sleep. Step 3: The physical node reads the switching information domain to check whether there is a communication mode switching instruction for this node. If there is such an instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node is switched according to the instruction; if there is no such instruction in the switching information domain, the communication mode of this node remains unchanged. Step 4: The object node reads the node identification field and determines whether the field contains an identification list; if the identification list does not exist, it jumps to step 6; Otherwise, go to step 5; Step 5: The object node determines whether the node appears in the identification list; if the node identification does not appear in the identification list, the object node enters the sleep mode; If the node ID appears in the ID list, the object node executes step 6; Step 6: The object node reads the duration type field. If the communication mode of the object node matches the value of the field, the object node proceeds to step 7; otherwise, the object node directly enters the sleep mode. Step 7: If the communication mode of the object node is active communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the object node starts the active transmitter and accesses the channel in ALOHA or CSMA mode to send the perception data; if the communication mode of the object node is passive communication mode, when there is data to be sent to the access gateway, the data is directly sent to the channel through the passive transmitter, regardless of whether other nodes are using the channel. The access gateway uses the Laissez-Faire method to distinguish the data sent by different object nodes through passive communication through the upper and lower edges of the data waveform.

7. A hybrid access system of active and passive communication nodes, characterized in that: It includes the object-end node as described in claim 6, an access gateway, and a radio frequency source node, the radio frequency source node is configured to send electromagnetic signals outward, the access gateway includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor is configured to send a trigger frame to the object-end node based on instructions stored in the memory, then wait for a period of time, and then send a control frame in a broadcast manner, so as to control the active and passive communication mode, communication duration and data sending mode of each object-end node.

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