7370 results about "Wireless sensor networking" patented technology

A wireless communication network for programming and monitoring a plurality of network-managed devices, including electronic-ink based display devices, comprising a network management computer system, a network gateway device, one or more wireless network routers, a plurality of network-managed devices, and a network coordinator. The wireless communication network of the present invention bridges the gap between wireless display networks, wireless sensor networks, and the worlds of passive, active and partially-active RFID and real-time locating systems. The wireless communication network of the present invention allows conventional communication network protocols to operate in more flexible ways in dynamic, diverse, and heterogeneous application environments, in fields including retail, healthcare, transport, logistics, manufacturing, education, etc. At the same time, the wireless communication network of the present invention is preferably based on the IEEE 802.15.4 network layer standard, which offers low-cost wireless network communication between a large number of wireless network end-devices.

A wireless sensor network, a node device thereof and a method for arranging communications therein are presented. A first frequency is used in wireless communication of information between a headnode and subnodes of a first cluster (103) using a time slotted channel access scheme. A headnode of a second cluster (113) known the first frequency and selects a second, different frequency for use in wireless communication of information within said second cluster (113) using a time slotted channel access scheme. The headnode of the first cluster (103) is informed about the second frequency selected for the second cluster (113). Information from the headnode of said first cluster (103) to the headnode of said second cluster (113) is communicated on said second frequency, using the same time slotted channel access scheme as other nodes in said second cluster (113).

The present invention relates to a sensor network having node architecture for performing trust management of neighboring sensor nodes, and to an adaptive method for performing trust management of neighboring sensor nodes for monitoring security in the sensor network. The sensor network includes a base station and a plurality of sensor nodes for reporting sensed information packets to the base station through radiofrequency signals relayed by other sensor nodes. A judge sensor node may have a trust estimator in its node architecture to evaluate trustworthiness of a neighboring suspect sensor node by determining a personal reference and receiving personal references from jury sensor nodes. Based on the trustworthiness of the suspect, the judge may modify a route for transmitting packets to the base station.

An F-inverted compact antenna for ultra-low volume Wireless Sensor Networks is developed with a volume of 0.024λ×0.06λ×0.076λ, ground plane included, where λ is a resonating frequency of the antenna. The radiation efficiency attained is 48.53% and the peak gain is −1.38 dB. The antenna is easily scaled to higher operating frequencies up to 2500 MHz bands with comparable performance. The antenna successfully transmits and receives signals with tolerable errors. It includes a standard PCB board with dielectric block thereon and helically contoured antenna wound from a copper wire attached to the dielectric block and oriented with the helix axis parallel to the PCB. The antenna demonstrates omnidirectional radiation patterns and is highly integratable with WSN, specifically in Smart Dust sensors. The antenna balances the trade offs between performance and overall size and may be manufactured with the use of milling technique and laser cutters.

A method and apparatus for coordinating communication in a wireless sensor network may include a plurality of nodes, such as routers, edge nodes, data accumulators and / or gateways. Time management functions, such as determining an elapsed time, may be controlled based on a detected temperature, e.g., a temperature detected at a node, and / or based on a detected clock skew between two or more clocks in two or more different devices. Accurate time management may allow for devices to more accurately coordinate communication instances, e.g., communication that occurs at periodic wake up times. A cluster head, such as a data accumulator, may be associated with a network after its initial formation and cause nodes in the network to alter their hierarchy in the network, thereby making the cluster headaccumulator a parent to nodes in the network. Nodes having a relatively lower hop count may have a higher battery capacity than nodes having a higher hop count.

Methods and apparatus for global wireless sensor network architecture and protocol for remote supervision, asset control and operational management based on localized clusters of autonomous sensor / supervision / operational sensor nodes capable of ad hoc interconnection with nearby nodes and connection to gateway nodes with increased network functionality. These localized cluster nodes send data to gateway nodes either directly or through multi-hop transactions. The gateway nodes are, in turn, connected to other gateway nodes and operations control centers either through wireless or wired data communications links. Utilizing the Internet for long range interconnectivity, the network is scaleable to a global level. The resulting network is based on an ad hoc mesh topology to allow flexibility in network modification and expansion and is comprised of a tiered structure defined by increasing functionality. A current application for this technology is the remote control and supervision of lighting systems for facilities and municipalities on a local, national and / or global basis from centralized regional operations centers.

The wireless sensor network with energy efficient protocols includes a network of external sensors in communication with a data sink. The network utilizes an algorithm integrating a modified S-MAC (an algorithm for medium access control) protocol for decreasing energy usage in operating the node and associated sensors. A routing protocol is further integrated into the algorithm, the routing protocol being based upon cluster head rotation.

A system for measuring and analyzing radio frequency power proximate and within a wireless field device mesh network. A centralized software module (CSWM) collects and analyzes values from one or more wireless devices of the wireless field device mesh network representing received RF power measurements on an assigned RF channel and values representing corresponding times of the received RF power measurements. Each wireless device measures received RF power on the assigned RF channel at times other than during reception of a signal resulting in transmission by the wireless device of either an acknowledgment signal or a non-acknowledgement signal. Values representing the received RF power measurements and the corresponding times of the received RF power measurements are determined from the stored received RF power measurements and corresponding times and then discarded. These values are stored within the wireless device until successfully reported. A network manager coordinates communication between the wireless devices and synchronizes the corresponding times of received RF power measurement throughout the wireless field device mesh network.

An apparatus comprising a power source, one or more sensors, a transceiver, and a memory. The power source may be configured to store energy to power the apparatus. The one or more sensors may be configured to receive captured data from one of a plurality of sources. The transceiver may be configured to send and receive data to and from a wireless network. The processor may be configured to execute computer readable instructions. The memory may be configured to store a set of instructions executable by the processor. The instructions may be configured to (A) evaluate an expected power usage budget calculated using a predictive model of future energy consumption and (B) (i) store the captured data in the memory in a first mode and (ii) transmit the captured data to a remote storage device in a second mode. The first mode or the second mode is selected based on characteristics of the captured data received from the sensors.

A wireless sensor system is installed inside pipelines using sensors and wireless transceivers that are small, low-cost, and rugged. The objective is monitoring the pipeline and recommending maintenance and repair at specific locations in the pipeline. Maintenance includes detection of leaks and prevention of catastrophic failures as a result of internal corrosion or other damage, such as third party mechanical damage, using multitude of sensors. After establishing the wireless sensor network the network is activated so the sensor can make measurements periodically or continuously using instructions transmitted via the base station. The sensor data from the various sensors are transmitted inside the pipe and extracted to access points in the pipeline to a remote computer that stores the data within the computer memory. The sensed information can be used for monitoring as well as analysis using a recommendation engine to provide maintenance and repair alerts.

A protocol for optimizing the energy for code upload to sensors in a wireless sensor network and speeding up the dissemination if multiple sources of code are available. Energy optimization is achieved by equipping each node with limited non-local topology information, which it uses to determine the time when it can go to sleep since code is not being distributed in its vicinity. Another aspect of the invention is a protocol that facilitates secure upload of code in the wireless sensor network. The secure communication protocol divides the sensor field into control groups each with a control node, and manages data exchange between nodes within a control group through the mediation of a control head which provides the common key. The keys are refreshed periodically and the control nodes are changed periodically to enhance security. The protocol facilitates secure communication between sensor nodes despite the compromise of any number of other nodes in the network.

A method of self-organizing sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network (WSN); a method of localizing mobile nodes in a WSN; and a method of self-calibrating a WSN are disclosed. The method of self-organizing sensor nodes in a WSN includes configuring sensor nodes to in turn broadcast consecutive messages at a plurality of pre-defined and incrementally increasing power levels; detecting receipt of the broadcasted messages at each of the sensor nodes and notifying a master node as to the identity of each sensor node receiving the broadcasted message and the power level at which it was received to define a detected neighbourhood for each sensor node; determining relative locations of sensor nodes with the detected neighbourhoods; and mapping relative locations of the sensor nodes by the master node based on results of the neighborhood detection and known locations of two anchor nodes.

The Internet of things needs using the self-configuring wireless sensors network to interconnect all things.Using a internet of things analyzer Architecture and methods, we can real time monitor and analysis the wireless network nodes, routing, coordinator to collect the information of the spectrum, the noise, the network of communication protocol, the EPC RFID data communication protocol and the states, low power states . . . .The architecture and methods will help build the high reliability, long battery life, green Internet of things and wireless sensors network.

A heterogeneous wireless network topology suited for low-power, short-range and ubiquitous ad-hoc communication. The network topology integrates different wireless transmission technologies, in particular to a wireless sensor network including different node types and communication technologies. The network is highly heterogeneous and can be operated according to the master-slave principle. The nodes can have different wireless communication means tailored to their individual role in the network and other constraints, thus allowing different communication patterns.

A system and method are provided that use mobile collectors for accessing a wireless sensor network. In certain embodiments, one or more mobile collectors having mobility that is unpredictable to a wireless sensor network are deployed for use in accessing the wireless sensor network. Thus, rather than relying on an access technique having certainty designed therein with regard to the access of a wireless sensor network, certain embodiments utilize an access technique that relies on statistical probability for accessing the wireless sensor network. For instance, by deploying a plurality of mobile collectors that are operable for accessing a wireless sensor network, a statistical probability exists that at some point (or at various points in time) at least one of the mobile collectors will travel within range of the wireless sensor network to enable access thereof.

The present invention provides a method and system for reducing power consumption in a Wireless Sensor Network. The Wireless Sensor Network includes a plurality of nodes forming a tree structure. The nodes send data towards a root node via parent nodes. The nodes adaptively control the wake-up schedules of radio transceivers based on the network level information of the nodes, thereby reducing the active wake-up interval of the radio transceivers and in turn decreasing the overall power consumption of the Wireless Sensor Network.

A wireless sensor network is installed inside pipelines using sensors and wireless transceivers that are small, low-cost, and rugged. The objective is monitoring the pipeline and recommending maintenance and repair at specific locations in the pipeline. Maintenance includes detection of internal corrosion using sensors that can result in leaks. Furthermore detection of leaks for prevention of catastrophic failures as a result of damage, such as third party mechanical damage. After establishing the wireless sensor network, the network is activated so the sensors can make measurements periodically or continuously using instructions transmitted via a base station. The sensor data from the various sensors are transmitted inside the pipe and extracted to access points in the pipeline to a remote computer that stores the data within the computer. The sensed information can be used for monitoring as well as analysis using a recommendation engine to provide maintenance and repair alerts.

A scalable, minimum node complexity, energy efficient, and error-resilient routing method for wireless sensor networks is described. The network is partitioned into regions by power controlled base station scans using a directional antenna. Routing is performed using only local location information and instructions received from the base station at each sensor node with minimum processing and control overhead, thus allowing simple, low-cost sensor designs. Sensors in the network provide to a base station reports of the condition of the sensors themselves, and these reports are analyzed by the base station to determine improved routing instructions, which are then provided to the sensor nodes in control messages. Each data packet is relayed in an interleaved, loop-free mesh of sectors toward the base station, making data delivery robust to sensor failures and transmission errors. The disclosure also contains descriptions for simple edge-based tasking, query, code distribution, and network programming for sensor nodes. The method is suitable for large-scale, dense sensor networks for detection, alarming, and monitoring applications.

A wireless communication module is used to implement an ad-hoc wireless sensor network. The wireless communication module is configured to interface with numerous and varied types of sensors and, in one particular embodiment, is used to implement an ad-hoc wireless sensor network for an aircraft engine. The modules are also configured to implement various functions to optimize ad-hoc network functionality and to minimize the electrical power dissipated by each module in the ad-hoc network.

A monitoring system for an aircraft engine includes a plurality of wireless engine sensors that sense engine parameters based on an engine sampling algorithm. The wireless engine sensors receive a new engine sampling algorithm to change the engine parameter sensing and generate engine data based on the new engine sampling algorithm. An engine monitoring module is mounted at the aircraft engine and collects and stores in a memory the engine data and transmits the engine data over a wireless communications signal into the aircraft and receives a new engine sampling algorithm and transmits it to the wireless engine sensors. A wireless LAN is within the aircraft and receives the new engine sampling algorithm from a ground based control center and transmits the new engine sampling algorithm to the engine monitoring module.

A system and method for implementing a wireless sensor network. The system comprises a plurality of motes, each mote having a sensor and a wireless communication system for communicating with neighboring motes; a distributed routing table distributed amongst each of the plurality of motes; and an update system for periodically updating the distributed routing table.

To provide users the ability to track their cardiovascular exercise and determine cardiovascular exercise machine usage, the present system and methods describe an activity tracking platform. The platform includes a wireless sensor configured to monitor a piece of cardiovascular exercise equipment. The sensor can be configured and positioned to monitor a moving part of the exercise equipment, such as the spinning tread of a treadmill or the circular movement of a bike peddle. Responsive to detecting activity, the sensor can associate the data with a specific user and, using a wireless sensor network, transmit the data to a central server. The platform provides the user an associated website, where the user may view historical workout information, current exercise equipment usage at a local gym, or current workout goals.

The invention discloses a routing method for the wireless sensor network with efficient energy, which is suitable for the layered sensor network structure. The routing method is composed of initialization, cluster building, adjacent clusters routing and routing maintenance, wherein, an initialization process of the protocol makes a Sink node obtain a topology and network average energy of the sensor network, and each node obtains hop counts from the node to the Sink node; in the stage of the cluster building, a repeated division method is used to divide sensor network clusters, the divided clusters are even, and a leader cluster node is undertaken by nodes with higher residual energy; the adjacent clusters routing uses an ant colony algorithm to determine the probability of using a link to send information according to the link pheromone concentration, and the link pheromone concentration is increased with the information transmission on the link and is reduced with the time going; and the routing maintenance stage is responsible for updating link pheromone concentration, and makes the nodes inside the cluster with higher residual energy undertake the leader cluster in turn. The routing method can reduce the consumption of the network total energy, can balance the consumption of the node energy and can prolong the network life cycle.

A system and method are provided that use mobile collectors for accessing a wireless sensor network. In certain embodiments, one or more mobile collectors having mobility that is unpredictable to a wireless sensor network are deployed for use in accessing the wireless sensor network. Thus, rather than relying on an access technique having certainty designed therein with regard to the access of a wireless sensor network, certain embodiments utilize an access technique that relies on statistical probability for accessing the wireless sensor network. For instance, by deploying a plurality of mobile collectors that are operable for accessing a wireless sensor network, a statistical probability exists that at some point (or at various points in time) at least one of the mobile collectors will travel within range of the wireless sensor network to enable access thereof.

The present invention relates to a directional flooding method in a wireless sensor network. Transfer of a packet between respective sensor nodes and a sink node in a wireless sensor network is made with the directivity. To this end, when the packet is transmitted from the sensor nodes to the sink node, only the sensor nodes having a minimum hop count for the sink node are involved in transmission of the packet. Meanwhile, if the packet is sent from the sink node to the sensor nodes within a given destination area, after the packet reaches a corresponding destination area, only sensor nodes located within the destination area transmit the packet. The present invention has an effect that it can improve energy consumed on average and a total number of packets transmitted when transmitting the packets in a wireless sensor network compared to a conventional simple flooding method.

Adaptive rule-based methods to solve localization problems for ad hoc wireless sensor networks are disclosed. A large problem may be solved as a sequence of very small subproblems, each of which is solved by semidefinite programming relaxation of a geometric optimization model. The subproblems may be generated according to a set of sensor / anchor selection rules and a priority list. The methods scale well and provide improved positioning accuracy. A dynamic version may be used for estimating moving sensors locations in a real-time environment. The method may use dynamic distance measurement updates among sensors, and utilizes subproblem solving for static sensor localization. Methods to deploy sensor localization algorithms in clustered distributed environments are also provided, permitting application to arbitrarily large networks. In addition, the methods may be used to solve sensor localizations in 2D or 3D space. A preprocessor may be used for localization of networks without absolute position information.

The invention discloses a method for realizing a medical and healthy care system based on the Internet of things, which consists of five parts, namely a medical sensing node, a wireless sensor network gateway, mobile terminal equipment, system software and terminal software. The medical sensing node acquires pathological information of a human body, such as blood oxygen, sphygmus, pulse and body temperature, by various probes, such as a blood oxygen probe, a pulse probe and a body temperature probe and then transmits data to wireless sensor network gateway equipment through a wireless sensing module; and the gateway equipment transmits pathological data to terminal equipment through an infrastructure network by implementing seamless switching among the wireless sensing network, an Ethernet and a wireless local area network to get rid of the restrict of wireline equipment and use related mobile equipment, such as a PDA and a smart phone, to monitor the pathological information of a patient conveniently and fast, in a hospital or a wireless network coverage. The system can be applied to daily life and work of people actually so that a medical personnel and a patient family member can conveniently and fast monitor the pathological information of the wirelessly and remotely.

Described herein are methods, apparatuses, and systems for secure provisioning of devices for manufacturing and maintenance. A method includes provisioning a sensor device by storing identification data for the sensor device and information used to authenticate the identification data in the sensor device. A method includes storing subassembly data for the sensor device and information used to authenticate the subassembly data in the sensor device in response to the sensor device being received and installed in a subassembly unit. The sensor device is installed in response to validating authenticity of the identification data. A method includes connecting the sensor device to a wireless sensor network in response to validating authenticity of one or more of the identification data and the subassembly data. The sensor device is integrated into a larger unit comprising the wireless sensor network.

Environmental monitoring systems that include base stations and environmental sensor units (ESUs) that communicate in a wireless sensor network. A base station may include environmental sensors and may communicate with a remote server using a wide-area wireless network. The base station may also communicate with an environmental sensor unit using a wireless personal area network. The ESU may include environmental sensors and may communicate with the remote server via the base station. The base station and ESU may be adapted to automatically pair with one another to enable the ESU to communicate via the base station. An ESU may also be adapted to process data regarding environmental conditions by automatically determining a type of environmental sensor from which the data was received and processing the data based on the type. An ESU may also include physical ports by which new sensors can be connected to the ESU.