Low Power Smart Device Data Transmission via LoRa
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth require high power and have short communication distances, making them unsuitable for battery-powered IoT devices, while ZigBee's complexity and low reliability limit its effectiveness for smart device control and data transmission in low-power wide-area networks.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for low-power data transmission and control in smart devices using a LoRa wide-area network, which involves periodic wake-ups for signal detection, switching frequencies for communication, and efficient data handling to minimize power consumption and ensure reliable data transmission and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology is used for wireless communication, then data transmission capability is improved, but power consumption increases and communication distance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The smart device operates in periodic wake-up cycles, transitioning between sleep mode and active mode. The device wakes up at predetermined intervals to check for incoming messages, then returns to sleep mode. This periodic operation dramatically reduces average power consumption compared to continuous operation, while still maintaining the ability to receive and transmit data when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway serves as an intermediary between the cloud server and the smart device. It buffers incoming messages from the cloud and transmits them to the smart device during the device's active periods. This intermediary approach allows the smart device to remain in low-power sleep mode while ensuring no data is lost, resolving the contradiction between power consumption and data transmission reliability.
2Reliability
If Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology is used for wireless communication, then data transmission capability is improved, but communication distance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a spatial dimension to the architecture by deploying a gateway at a central location that has long-range communication capabilities with the cloud. The smart device communicates with the gateway using low-power short-range technology, while the gateway handles long-range cloud communication. This dimensional separation allows the smart device to maintain low power consumption while the system as a whole achieves long communication distance through the gateway's infrastructure.
3Use of energy by moving object
If ZigBee technology is used for wireless communication, then power consumption is reduced, but device complexity and protocol complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex protocol handling and message formatting functions from the smart device and concentrates them in the gateway. The smart device uses a simplified communication protocol for wake-up signals and message reception, while the gateway handles complex tasks such as message buffering, formatting, and transmission to the cloud. This extraction reduces the smart device's complexity while maintaining low power consumption.
4Use of energy by moving object
If ZigBee technology is used for wireless communication, then power consumption is reduced, but transmission reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway implements a message buffering mechanism that cushions against transmission failures. When the smart device wakes up, the gateway checks for buffered messages from the cloud and transmits them immediately. This beforehand cushioning ensures that even if the device misses wake-up cycles or experiences transmission interruptions, no data is lost, thereby improving reliability while the device remains in low-power mode most of the time.
Data Source
AI summary
Present disclosure describes a method for low power communication between smart devices, including data transmission and control. The method for communicating with a smart device, includes following steps: waking up from a sleep mode periodically; performing an incoming transmission signal detection at a first frequency after waking up from the sleep mode; determining if an incoming transmission signal is detected; determining if at least part of a wake message is received, based on the determination that the incoming transmission signal is detected; determining if the at least part of the wake message is associated with the device, based on the determination that the at least part of the wake message is received; and switching to a second frequency for communication, based on the determination that the at least part of the wake message is associated with the device.