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

Abstract

A method and node devices for determining location addresses of node devices (21, 22...26) of a network (10) are provided. The node devices (21, 22...26) are arranged along an elongated track (12) and are geographically separated from one another 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 a nearby node device (21) having a known location address included in the message (27). The receiving node device (22) determines its own location address based on the location address received in the message (27). The receiving node device (22) may then transmit a further message (28) including its determined location address to a further node device (23), enabling the further node device (23) to similarly determine its own location address.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of commissioning of node devices, and more specifically, to a method for determining a location address of a node device in a network of operably interconnected node devices and to a node device for operating in a network of node devices.

Background Art

[0002] For example, electrical or electronic devices such as lighting devices and IoT (Internet of Things) devices having data communication capabilities, and devices supporting eMTC (enhanced Machine-Type Communication) are increasingly being deployed in networks consisting of a plurality of interconnected devices.

[0003] These devices, generally referred to as node devices or terminal devices, include a short range communication interface such as a transceiver module for communication only between node devices, also called inter-node device communication, and may include a long range communication interface such as a network adapter or transceiver module for data exchange with a remote device such as a backend device or a backend server.

[0004] The short - distance communication interface may operate according to network protocols for exchanging data by networked devices or nodes, such as specified ZigBee (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and WiFi - based protocols for wireless networks, as well as wired bus networks such as DALI (registered trademark) (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplex), KNX (and KNX - based systems), and proprietary communication technologies and protocols, etc.

[0005] The long - distance communication interface may operate according to wireless mobile communication standards such as specified 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular communication, as well as other long - distance 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, an illumination system, especially an outdoor illumination system such as a street lighting system, may include a number of smart light poles connected as a network of node devices. Generally, all smart poles are connected to a backend device. The backend device can manage all the functionality provided by the smart poles through various electronic devices installed on the smart poles, such as power consumption statistics, pole localization maps, environmental alerts, display content control, etc.

[0007] For a smart pole to function correctly and be accurately managed by a backend device, the smart pole needs to be commissioned or claimed on the network after installation. Before commissioning, the backend device generally knows the Internet Protocol (IP) address and / or identification information (ID) of the smart pole, but cannot associate the above information with the specific location of the smart pole. Commissioning the smart pole enables the backend device to obtain knowledge of the location of the smart pole and associate or relate that location to the smart pole identified by the IP or ID. Thereafter, the backend can visualize all smart poles on a map and perform location-aware operations on the smart poles accordingly.

[0008] For example, in a certain region of the world, commissioning of a smart pole can be automatically performed if the smart pole is equipped with a localization device such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) device that can report the geographical coordinates of the smart pole to the backend device during commissioning. However, this method adds additional cost to the smart pole as new hardware is required.

[0009] Furthermore, in some regions of the world, it may be prohibited to equip smart poles with localization devices. If the smart poles do not support the localization service, the commissioning has to be done manually pole by pole on site by the installer. The installer has to record the location of the smart poles by hand and report this to the backend device via a public communication network or the like, which is quite time-consuming and error-prone.

[0010] US2012 / 0059622A1 discloses a streetlight monitoring system in which a small portion of the streetlights in the system are anchor nodes configured to detect and store their actual fixed positions and thereby function as reference points. Further, other streetlights, called blind nodes, do not have actual fixed positions but can use the coordinates of the anchor nodes and estimate the confidence distance to them to derive their own positions. The distance estimation of the blind nodes can be performed using the received signal strength indication (RSSI) measured at each blind node for small distances up to a threshold value, and the link quantization technique utilizes the typical arrangement of the streetlights. The estimated distances between the streetlights can be assigned to categories of predetermined distances for rough estimation and further position adjustment to the nearest possible "real" position. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0011] Therefore, there is a genuine need for a method to obtain the location addresses of node devices in a network, especially to support the automatic commissioning of node devices configured as a network of interconnected node devices, such as an outdoor or street lighting system including a number of node devices arranged as smart poles. MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

[0012] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for determining the location address of a node device in a network of node devices operably interconnected, wherein the node devices are arranged at different locations along an elongated track, 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 for inter-node communication, the method comprising: - receiving, by the node device, a message from an immediate neighbouring node device having a known location address along the track using the short range communication interface, the message including the location address of the immediate neighbouring node device; - determining, by the node device, its own location address along the track based on the location address in the received message; - transmitting, by the node device, a further message using the short range communication interface, the further message including the determined location address of the node device; - receiving, by a further immediate neighbouring node device of the node device, the further message using the short range communication interface; - determining, by the further immediate neighbouring node device, its own location address along the track based on the location address in the received further message; - transmitting, by the further immediate neighbouring node device, a message including the determined location address of the further immediate neighbouring node device using the short range communication interface; A method is presented that includes.

[0013] The present disclosure is based on the insight that a node device within a network of interconnected node devices can determine or calculate its location address from the known location addresses of neighboring node devices. The fact that all node devices are arranged sequentially or in order along an elongated track, and optionally spaced apart between nodes, enables the node devices to perform such location address determination.

[0014] First, the node device receives a message from the immediately neighboring node device. The location address of the immediately neighboring node device is already known and is included in the received message. Thereafter, the node device adopts the known location address of the immediately neighboring node device as a reference point or reference location address for determining its own location address along the track. The determined location address may be a relative location address along the track or definite geographical coordinates, as further explained below.

[0015] Thereafter, the node device transmits a further message that includes its determined location address. The further message is received by a further neighboring node device and will be used by the further neighboring node device to similarly determine a location address.

[0016] Therefore, the method of the present disclosure enables the location address of a node device connected to a network to be automatically determined, and can eliminate errors caused by manual recording and reporting of the location address. Further, no extra hardware device such as a localization device is required, and the system cost of the entire network can also be saved or reduced. The determined location address may be used by a remote management device such as a back-end server for controlling or managing the node device accordingly and for commissioning purposes.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the determining step is executed by the node device when no location address is assigned to the node device.

[0018] For the purpose of preventing a commissioned node device from attempting to re-determine its own location address by erroneously receiving a message from an adjacent node device, the node device attempts to determine its own location address only when the location address has not yet been assigned or determined. The node device may determine whether a location address has been assigned, for example, by checking the local availability of the location address in the storage device of the node device or the presence of a commissioning confirmation message from the back-end server.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the location address of the node device includes a string number corresponding to the relative location of the node device in a string of node devices arranged along a track, and the determining step includes successively adapting the string number.

[0020] The relative location of the node device may be sufficient for some applications 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 may include a string number indicating the relative location of the node device in the string of node devices along the track.

[0021] Therefore, determining the location address of a node device from the known location address of the immediately adjacent node device includes sequentially adapting the serial number to the next one in the string, which becomes the serial number of the receiving node device. This is very simple to implement and requires few processing resources.

[0022] For example, when 1000 node devices numbered continuously from 1 to 1000 starting from number 1 are arranged along a track, when a message indicating a relative location address of 595 is received at a node device, for example, the receiving node device determines its location address by adapting the received location address to 596. It should be understood that the term "number" or "string number" may include numbers and / or positions in a string of alphanumeric and alphanumeric characters, and the adaptation may include calculating the next position in the string.

[0023] In one 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 geographic direction of the track, and the determining step includes calculating the geographical coordinates of the node device from the geographical coordinates of the immediately adjacent node device, the distance between nodes, and the geographic direction of the track.

[0024] In practice, it may be necessary to know the exact geographical location of the node device along the elongated track, i.e., the geographical coordinates, which means that the location address of the node device includes or is represented by geographical coordinates. It is also necessary to use the calculation of the geographical coordinates of the node device from the geographical coordinates of the immediately adjacent node device, the node-to-node distance, and the geographical direction of the track.

[0025] In the case of a street lighting system, considering that the node-to-node distance is relatively small compared to the dimensions of the earth, the calculation may be simplified to the 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 easy and do not require many or specific resources for processing.

[0026] The calculated geographical coordinates of the node device may be used to provide an accurate indication of the location where the node device is geographically located, whereby location-related operations that require accurate knowledge of the geographical coordinates of the node device can be performed.

[0027] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the message includes number information related to the number of node devices for which the location needs to be determined. When the location address is determined, the number information is adapted by the node device to indicate one less than the number of node devices for which the location needs to be determined. When the number information indicates that there are no further node devices for which the location needs to be determined, the transmission of further messages is terminated.

[0028] The numerical information related to the number of node devices for which a location needs to be determined enables the node device that received the message to determine whether it is the last node device having a location adapted to the numerical information in the next order in the column. If there are still other node devices for which a location needs to be determined, here the node device, which already has a determined local address, sends a further message including the determined location address of the node device, enabling the next adjacent node device to determine its location accordingly. Otherwise, the sending of further messages is terminated.

[0029] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the numerical information is a range of numbers, alphabets, alphanumerics, and the adaptation includes calculating the next position in the range.

[0030] It can be assumed that the numerical information representing the number of node devices for which a location address should be determined may be expressed in various ways. The simplest one is a certain range or a series of numbers, but more complex ones such as alphabets and alphanumerics may also be used. The numerical information may be used according to the order of increment or decrement as long as it can be adapted to indicate how many node devices for which a location address should be determined remain. Therefore, the adaptation includes calculating or obtaining the next position within the range, indicating that there is one less node device for which a location address needs to be determined.

[0031] When the numerical information indicates that there are no further node devices for which a location address needs to be determined, no further message is sent. In this way, it is effectively prevented from sending messages to node devices whose location addresses have already been determined.

[0032] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a node device at one end of an elongated track is selected as the starting node device by assigning a location address to the node device.

[0033] To facilitate implementing the method, one node device, particularly a node device at the end of an elongated track, is manually commissioned first before the location addresses of other node devices are automatically determined according to the present disclosure as described above. The manual commissioning of the starting node device may include setting or assigning geographical coordinates or relative location string numbers to the starting node device. Optionally, the geographical direction of the track and the distance between nodes may also be manually configured for the starting node device at this point.

[0034] Thereafter, the location address of the starting node device may be used to determine the location address along the track of the next adjacent node device.

[0035] The manual commissioning of only one node device requires much less effort compared to the manual commissioning of more than 1000 or even 10,000 node devices in an actual application, and can be accurately controlled to more easily avoid errors than the manual commissioning of a large number of node devices.

[0036] In a particular embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes including numerical information in a message at the starting node device.

[0037] This is to ensure that the number information has the correct initial value indicating the number of node devices in the network that need to determine the location address and commission accordingly. Along with the determination of the location address of each node device following the start node device, the number information is appropriately adapted to the next position in a range of numbers, alphabets, and alphanumerics. The number information is updated to the latest and always reflects the node devices for which the location address needs to be determined.

[0038] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes the step of a node device reporting its location address and unique identifier to a backend server.

[0039] After each node device knows its location address, it can report the location address to the backend server together with its unique identifier, and the backend server can commission the node devices in the network by associating or correlating the location address of the node device, for example, with the IP address of the node device. This commissioning ensures that all node devices are correctly managed by the backend server.

[0040] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the step of reporting by the node device is executed in response to determining its location address. Alternatively, the step of reporting by the node device is executed in response to an inquiry by the backend server.

[0041] It can be assumed that the node device reports the determined location address to the backend server immediately after the determination, which may enable the backend server to commission the node devices in the network. In this way, the backend server may recognize the node devices that are not appropriately commissioned by not receiving any reports from such node devices.

[0042] Alternatively, the back-end server may send an inquiry message to the node device to collect the determined location address of the node device. This can be done as a collective step, improving efficiency.

[0043] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, after sending a further message, the node device turns off its short-range communication interface.

[0044] As a measure to ensure that messages are always received by neighboring node devices that do not have a location address assigned, the node device can, for example, upon instruction from the back-end server or when its location address becomes known to the back-end server, send a further message including the determined location address and then, at its own discretion, turn off its short-range communication interface. This can prevent an unintended change in the location address of the node device.

[0045] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a node device configured to operate in a network of operably interconnected node devices arranged at different locations along an elongated track and geographically separated from each other by a node-to-node distance, the node device having a unique identifier, including a short-range communication interface for node-to-node communication, the node device including a processor and configured to operate according to the method of the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0046] The node device of the present disclosure can refer to the known location addresses of immediately adjacent node devices and automatically determine its own location address according to the method of the present disclosure.

[0047] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the short - range communication interface includes one of a combination of a camera and a display, and / or a wired and / or wireless communication interface, or the like equivalent thereto.

[0048] Some node devices, especially smart poles, may be equipped with IoT devices such as high - resolution cameras and displays. The camera and the display may 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 have an image such as a QR (Quick Response) code with a message embedded therein displayed on its own display, and the node device can scan and capture the QR code using its own camera to extract the message.

[0049] Receiving the message in this way incurs no extra communication cost and can also save the radio resources required for communication.

[0050] Alternatively, the short - range communication interface includes a wireless communication interface. Thus, the message is transmitted via a wireless communication channel between the node device and the neighboring node device.

[0051] It can be assumed 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 messages are transmitted according to their respective wireless transmission protocols.

[0052] In particular, as an example, the wireless communication interface is any one of a cellular communication interface, a light fidelity interface, and Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the received message is transmitted at a signal strength for causing only the node device to receive the message.

[0053] Since the message is intended to be received only by the node device from the immediately adjacent node device, the transmission is performed using a certain power level and signal strength to ensure that only the node device can receive the message. This enables the message to always be transmitted to the nearest node device along the track, and the correct reference location address, that is, the known location address of the immediately adjacent node device, to be used to determine the location address of the node device.

[0054] The third aspect of the present disclosure includes an electrical or electronic device such as a smart light pole including at least one node device of the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0055] The fourth aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer program product including a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing at least one processor to execute the above-described method of the present disclosure when executed by the at least one processor.

[0056] The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be best understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals indicate the same parts or parts performing the same or equivalent functions or operations.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0057]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0058] Here, embodiments contemplated by the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited only to the embodiments described herein. Rather, the illustrated embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0059] The present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to a network having smart light poles that operably interconnect and operate as node devices of the network. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure is not limited to a network of light poles and is applicable to a wide variety of networks of node devices capable of network communication connectivity, as shown in the background art part.

[0060] Each node device is configured with a short-range communication interface. The short-range communication interface may operate according to network protocols for exchanging data by networked devices or nodes, such as, for example, specified ZigBee (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and WiFi-based protocols for wireless networks, and wired bus networks such as DALI (registered trademark) (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplex), KNX (and KNX-based systems), as well as wired or wireless, proprietary communication technologies and protocols, etc. The short-range communication interface typically operates for data exchange between node devices in the network in any of broadcast, narrowcast, or unicast communication modes.

[0061] As described above, the short-range communication interface may be constituted by a high-resolution camera and a display in the node device. The camera and the display may be used together to transmit and receive messages including the location address of the node device.

[0062] In addition, some or all of the node devices may be provided with a long-distance communication interface for communicating with the backend server. The backend server is also configured with a long-distance communication interface. The long-distance communication interface typically operates according to mobile communication system technologies in a licensed frequency band, such as, for example, 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular communication, and other long-distance wireless communication technologies known as Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) communication. However, the long-distance communication interface may operate according to its own wireless communication protocol or technology and / or wired data exchange communication technology.

[0063] Figure 1 schematically shows a network 10 of node devices arranged as smart light poles installed along an elongated straight and / or winding track 12 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0064] Smart poles 21, 22... 26 are installed along an elongated track 12, which can be, for example, a highway, a street, a road, or a path in an urban or suburban environment as a construction project. The elongated track 12 is geographically predefined according to a construction plan or an installation plan indicating a geographical route including a geographical direction 13 along each part of the track 12. The smart poles 21, 22... 26 are equidistantly spaced from each other by a node-to-node distance, such as, for example, a geographical distance "d".

[0065] In addition, the smart light poles 21, 22... 26 may be installed on two or more tracks 12 (not shown), and in this case, the smart light poles 21, 22... 26 along each track may be individually handled according to the method of the present disclosure.

[0066] Some or all of the smart poles 21, 22... 26 may be connected to the backend server 18 via a network 14 such as the Internet 14 by the long-distance communication interface 19. The backend server 18 includes a memory or repository 15 and stores project-local network data including, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned to the smart poles 21, 22... 26 by the backend server 18. Further, the backend server 18 includes a transceiver 16 for exchanging data with the smart poles 21, 22... 26 using the long-distance communication interface 19 and the Internet 14, and runs a process or application 17 for remotely managing and operating the smart poles 21, 22... 26.

[0067] For the purposes of the present disclosure, it is assumed that each smart light pole 21, 22... 26 is assigned a unique network identifier (NID), such as an IP address, dynamically via a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service, for example, by the backend server 18, after being installed and powered on for the first time.

[0068] The smart light poles 21, 22... 26 may report their own unique identifiers, such as Media Access Control (MAC) addresses or serial numbers (SNs), assigned by the manufacturer, to the backend server 18. The backend server 18 can manage and operate all the functionality of each smart pole 21, 22... 26, such as power consumption statistics, pole localization maps, environmental alerts, display content control, etc. Some operations require that the location addresses of the node devices 21, 22... 26 along the track 12 be known to the backend server 18.

[0069] The method according to the present disclosure enables node devices, i.e., smart poles 21, 22...26, to determine their location addresses and report them to the backend server 18, and the backend server 18 can commission and add the node devices including the location addresses to the network 10, and then manage and control the smart poles 21, 22...26.

[0070] Figure 2 shows, in a simplified flow diagram 30, the steps of determining the location addresses of the node devices of a network of operably interconnected smart poles according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0071] As a preparation step, all smart poles 21, 22...26 are turned on and tuned so that the smart poles 21, 22...26 can receive messages from neighboring smart poles 21, 22...26, and each has its own short-range communication interface 20, in particular a receiver such as a radio receiver, a Li-Fi (light fidelity) receiver, or a camera. For example, only messages with a radio signal strength indicator (RSSI) level exceeding a set threshold are received, or, for example, it is tuned to receive a light image at a specific light level that enables error-free decoding of a code projected onto the display of a neighboring node device.

[0072] In step 31, "Commissioning a starting node device manually by setting location address of the starting node device", a node device such as the smart light pole 21 at the left end at the end of the elongated track 12, which can also be referred to as the starting pole 21 or the initializer pole 21, is manually commissioned, for example, by an installer or a field engineer.

[0073] The manual commissioning configures the location address of the initializer pole 21, which can be the geographical coordinates of the pole or a relative location such as a string number corresponding to the relative location of the smart poles in a string or column along the track 12. The configured or assigned location address is sent to the back-end server 18, and the back-end server associates the location address with the IP or ID of the starting node device 21, thereby enabling the starting node device 21 to be commissioned.

[0074] The node-to-node distance "d" may already be configured in the starting node device 21 during manual commissioning. Alternatively, the node-to-node distance "d" may be sent from the back-end server 18 to all smart poles, 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.

[0075] Further, the initializer pole 21 may receive the geographical direction of the truck 12 from the installer and locally store it in the node device. During the commissioning of the initializer pole 21, numerical information related to the total number of poles of the project or installation to be commissioned may be received by the initializer pole 21. The numerical information may be used to determine the number of smart poles 22...26 for which the location still has to be acquired during commissioning according to the present disclosure.

[0076] The number formation may be expressed in various ways, for example, as a series of numbers, or alphabets, or alphanumerics.

[0077] A simple and easy-to-understand example of the numerical information may be a number indicating the total number of light poles. As an example, in the case of an installation project with 1000 light poles, the numerical information assigned by the initializer pole 21 may be 1000.

[0078] Alternatively, the numerical information may include a series of numbers from 1, 2, 3,..., 1000, or a series of alphanumerics A1, A2, A3,..., A1000, or any other series indicating that there are a total of 1000 node devices for which the location address has to be determined, i.e., which have to be commissioned according to the method of the present disclosure.

[0079] The above numerical information may be used according to the order of increment or decrement as long as it can be adapted to indicate how many node devices for which the location address has to be determined remain. The above configuration information may be stored in the storage device of the start pole 21.

[0080] In "Receiving by node device a message from immediate neighbouring node device having a known location address" of step 32, a smart pole such as the smart pole 22 immediately following the initializer pole 21 receives the message 27 transmitted by the initializer pole 21 using its short - distance communication interface 20.

[0081] When the short - distance communication interface 20 of the smart pole includes a camera and a display, the initializer pole 21 turns on its display immediately before this step so that an image such as a QR code containing the message can be displayed on the display of the initializer pole 21, and then only the smart pole 22 immediately following the initializer pole 21, also hereinafter referred to as the target pole or target node device, can scan the image displayed using its camera.

[0082] Also, as described above, the short - distance communication interface 20 may include a wireless communication interface. In this case, the message 27 is transmitted from the initializer pole 21 to the target pole 22 via the communication channel established between poles 21 and 22.

[0083] It should be noted that in the case of wireless transmission of the message 27, the message is transmitted by the smart pole with a signal strength that enables the message to be received only by the smart pole immediately following the transmitting pole.

[0084] The message may be, for example, a ZigBee inter-pan message when a ZigBee (registered trademark) interface is used. Alternatively, when a Li-Fi interface is used, the message may be a Li-Fi message.

[0085] Message 27 includes the location address of the initializer pole 21 and, optionally, numerical information related to the number of node devices for which the location address needs to be determined.

[0086] Since the location address of the initializer pole has already been configured and reported to the backend server 18, the receiving node device has to adapt the numerical information within the message. The adaptation of the numerical information may include calculating or determining the next position in a string or sequence indicating that there is 1 fewer node device for which the location address needs to be determined.

[0087] In the above example of a project with 1000 smart poles, when the numerical information is simply represented by the number 1000, the adaptation is to subtract 1 from 1000, that is, adapt the numerical information to 999, indicating that there are 999 smart poles with undetermined location addresses.

[0088] When the numerical information includes a series of numbers, alphabets, or alphanumerics, the adaptation may include, for example, determining the next position in the series, such as from A99 to A100.

[0089] Optionally, message 27 may also include the geographical direction 13 of track 12. For example, the track extension direction along the entire track 12 may be transmitted in message 27. On the other hand, message 27 may include only the geographical direction of the portion of track 12 that covers the target node device for which the location address and neighboring node devices are to be determined.

[0090] It is also possible to directly obtain the geographical direction 13 from the backend server 18 by sending a request message from the node devices 21, 22... 26 to the backend server 18.

[0091] Optionally, the node - to - node distance "d" may also be included in the received message 27. Alternatively, the node - to - node distance "d" can also be obtained from the backend server 18 by sending a request message or the like.

[0092] Next, in step 33 "Determining by node device its location address based on location address in received message, when no location address has been allocated to the node device", the target node device, that is, the next target smart pole 22 after the initializer pole 21, uses the received location address of the initializer pole 21 as the reference location address to determine its own location address only when the location address of the receiving node device 22 has not yet been allocated or determined.

[0093] The node device may determine whether a location address is assigned to itself by checking, for example, the local availability of the location address in the storage device of the node device or the presence of a commissioning confirmation message from the backend server or the like. If a location address is assigned, the node device knows that messages received from directly adjacent node devices do not need to be processed. That is, since the smart pole no longer needs to do so, it will not attempt to determine or calculate its location a second time.

[0094] It is not necessarily required to know the exact geographical coordinates of the smart pole. In practice, for some applications, it may be sufficient to know their relative locations, for example, expressed as a string of the numbers of each node device along track 12. In this case, the determination of the location address of the target pole may include sequentially adapting the received string number.

[0095] As an example, if serial number 1 is assigned to the starting pole, the target pole, which is the pole immediately following the starting pole, can determine that its relative location is indicated by serial number 2 and so on.

[0096] When the location address of the smart pole is expressed in geographical coordinates, the target smart pole 22 calculates its location address, that is, its geographical coordinates, using the known location address of the initializer pole 21, the inter-node distance "d", and the geographical direction 13 of track 12.

[0097] It is assumed that the derivation of the geographical coordinates of the target pole from the geographical coordinates of the initializer pole, the geographical direction of the track, and the geographical distance between nodes can be done in many ways known to those skilled in the art and does not need to be detailed here.

[0098] The calculated geographical coordinates of the target node device may be used to provide an accurate or actual indication of where the target node device is geographically located, thereby enabling location-related operations such as replacing a malfunctioning lighting device installed on a smart pole by, for example, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

[0099] Subsequently, in step 34, "Transmitting a further message comprising determined location address by the node device", the target pole 22, which here functions as an initiator pole, transmits a further message 28 containing its determined location address, thereby enabling the next pole adjacent to pole 22, which is here the target pole, i.e., pole 23, to determine its location address accordingly. The current target pole 23 may acquire or determine its location according to steps 32 and 33 above.

[0100] Before transmitting a further message, the target pole can check whether it is the last pole for which a location address needs to be determined by referring to the numerical information within the received message. If it is the last pole, the pole does not transmit a further message 28.

[0101] Steps 32 and 33 may be repeatedly executed until the location addresses of all smart poles in the network are determined.

[0102] After each smart pole determines its location address, or at a point in time after the location addresses of some or all of the smart poles have been determined, in step 35, "Reporting by a node device its location address to the backend server", which can be executed, the location addresses of smart poles 21, 22... 26 are reported to the backend server 18, and the backend server 18 associates or correlates the location address of the smart pole with its unique identifier, such as the IP address or ID of the smart pole, whereby the smart pole can be commissioned into the network system 10.

[0103] Also, the reporting of the location address may be executed in response to an inquiry message sent by the backend server 18 to node devices 21, 22... 26 to collect the determined location addresses of the node devices. This can be done as a collective step, thereby improving efficiency.

[0104] After successfully commissioning each of the smart poles 21, 22... 26, the backend server 18 may send a confirmation message to the smart pole to inform it that the smart pole has been commissioned into the network.

[0105] In step 36, "Switching off short range communication interface by the node device", the backend server 18 may send an instruction to the already commissioned smart pole to request it to switch off its short range communication interface 20. As a result, the commissioned smart pole will not receive messages from the directly adjacent smart pole and no longer needs to do so, and thus will not attempt to determine or calculate its location for the second time. By switching off the short range communication interface or at least disabling it for communication purposes, the transmission of messages to the commissioned smart pole in the reverse direction along the track, i.e., in the direction of the start or initializer device, is effectively prevented.

[0106] Alternatively, the smart pole having the determined location address may spontaneously switch off its short range communication interface after sending a further message 28.

[0107] FIG. 3 schematically shows a diagram of an embodiment of a node device or terminal device 40 configured to operate in a network of operably interconnected node devices according to the present disclosure.

[0108] The node device 40 includes a control unit or control device 41 and a load such as a lighting fixture or lighting device 42 including a lighting module 43, preferably a light emitting diode (LED) lighting module or a plurality of LED lighting modules. The operation of the load may be controlled by the control device 41 from a remote control device such as a remote or backend server (not shown) or via the remote control device.

[0109] The control device 41 operates a short-distance communication interface 47 such as a second network adapter or transceiver (Tx / Rx 2) module for short-distance 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. Network protocols for exchanging data by networked devices or nodes may include ZigBee (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and WiFi-based protocols for wireless networks, as well as wired bus networks such as DALI (registered trademark) (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), DSI (Digital Serial Interface), DMX (Digital Multiplex), and KNX (or KNX-based systems), and other proprietary protocols, etc. As described above, the optical camera and the optical display may constitute the short-distance communication interface 47.

[0110] Furthermore, the control device 41 may operate a long-distance communication interface 44 such as a first network adapter or transceiver (Tx / Rx 1) module for direct wireless message or data packet exchange 45 with a remote control device or a backend server. The long-distance communication interface 44 typically operates according to mobile communication system technologies in an authorized frequency band, such as, for example, 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular communication, as well as other long-distance wireless communication technologies known as Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) communication, etc. However, the long-distance communication interface 44 may operate according to a proprietary wireless communication protocol or technology.

[0111] The expression "direct wireless message exchange" refers to the downlink (DL) exchange of data by the long-distance communication interface 44 via a wireless communication channel from a remote server to the node device 40, and the uplink (UL) of data by the long-distance communication interface 44 from the node device 40 to a remote server or the like.

[0112] The long-distance communication interface 44 may be configured for wired message exchange 46, such as data exchange via an Ethernet (registered trademark) connection and the Internet or the like.

[0113] Furthermore, the control device 41 includes at least one microprocessor (μP) or controller 50, and in particular, operation software, for example, project local network data 52 for commissioning the node device of the network, computer program code instructions for operating the node device according to the present disclosure, address information 53 of the node device itself and other node devices, for example, the identifier (ID) 54 of the node device, the media access control (MAC) address, and subscriber information, etc., and at least one data repository or storage or memory 51 for storing them. Instead of the repository 51, another memory or storage accessible to at least one processor or controller 50 may be provided.

[0114] At least one microprocessor or controller 50 interacts with and controls a long-distance communication interface 44, a short-distance communication interface 47, and at least one repository or storage 51 via the internal data communication and control bus 55 of the control device 41. The long-distance communication interface 44 and the short-distance communication interface 47 may be configured to transmit / transfer messages and data, such as number information related to the distance between nodes, the geographical direction of the track, the location address of adjacent node devices, and the number of node devices for which the location address needs to be determined, which are required to determine the location address of the node device.

[0115] The lighting fixture or lighting device 42 is connected to (56) the data communication and control bus 55 and is controlled from the data communication and control bus 55 by at least one microprocessor or controller 50.

[0116] Those skilled in the art will understand that, in addition to or in addition to the lighting fixture or lighting device 42, any electrical load, such as a motor load, different types of (environmental) sensors and / or measuring devices, etc., may be connected to (56) the control bus.

[0117] The present disclosure is not limited to the examples disclosed above and can be modified and extended by those skilled in the art beyond the scope of the present disclosure disclosed in the appended claims without the need to apply inventive skills 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 node devices interconnected to be operational, where the node devices are arranged at different locations along an elongated track, are geographically separated from each other by the node-to-node distance, each node device has a unique identifier, and includes a short-range communication interface for communication between nodes, the method comprising: Receiving, by the node device, a message using the short-range communication interface from an immediately adjacent node device having a known location address along the track, the message including the location address of the immediately adjacent node device; Determining, by the node device, its own location address along the track based on the location address in the received message; Transmitting, by the node device, a further message using the short-range communication interface, the further message including the determined location address of the node device; Receiving, by a further immediately adjacent node device of the node device, the further message using the short-range communication interface; Determining, by the further immediately adjacent node device, its own location address along the track based on the location address in the received further message; Transmitting, by the further immediately adjacent node device, a message using the short-range communication interface including the determined location address of the further immediately adjacent node device; A method comprising the above.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining, by the node device, its own location address along the track based on the location address in the received message is performed by the node device when no location address has been assigned to the node device.

3. The location address of the node device includes a string number corresponding to the relative location of the node device along the track, and the step of determining its own location address along the track by the node device based on the location address in the received message includes sequentially adapting the string number. The method according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The location address of the node device includes the geographical coordinates of the node device, the message includes the node-to-node distance and the geographical direction of the track, and the step of determining its own location address along the track by the node device based on the location address in the received message includes calculating the geographical coordinates of the node device from the geographical coordinates of the immediately adjacent node device, the node-to-node distance, and the geographical direction of the track. The method according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The message includes numerical information related to the number of node devices for which the location needs to be determined. When the location address is determined, the numerical information is adapted by the node device to indicate one less the number of node devices for which the location needs to be determined. When the numerical information indicates that there are no further node devices for which the location needs to be determined, the transmission of the further message is terminated. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The numerical information includes a range of numbers, alphabets, alphanumerics, and the adaptation includes calculating the next position in the range. The method according to claim 5.

7. The node device at one end of the elongated track is selected as the starting node device by assigning a location address to the node device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The method includes including the numerical information in the message at the starting node device. The method according to claim 7, which depends on claim 5 or 6.

9. The method includes the step of reporting its own location address and unique identifier to the backend server by the node device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The step of reporting by the node device is the method according to claim 9, which is executed in response to either determining its own location address or an inquiry by the backend server.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the node device turns off its short-range communication interface after sending the further message.

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

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

14. An electrical or electronic device including at least one node device according to claim 12.

15. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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