Wireless Logger Scheduling for Shipment Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless logger devices associated with shipments have unpredictable wake-up frequencies, leading to suboptimal data visibility and potential delays in identifying shipment disruptions, such as temperature fluctuations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for controlling multiple wireless logger devices by configuring them to sequentially spread out the transmission of measured environmental parameters and position data within a fixed wake-up interval, optimizing power use or enhancing data resolution as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple logger devices wake up simultaneously at fixed intervals to transmit data, then real-time monitoring capability is improved, but power consumption increases and position data resolution becomes unpredictable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a periodic wake-up schedule where logger devices are configured to wake up at predetermined time intervals rather than continuously operating. Each logger device has assigned specific wake-up times within a cycle, allowing them to transmit data periodically while consuming power only when needed, thus resolving the contradiction between real-time monitoring and power consumption
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures wake-up schedules and time slots for each logger device before deployment. This preliminary arrangement ensures that devices know when to activate and transmit data, enabling predictable periodic monitoring without requiring continuous power supply or random wake-up behavior
2Use of energy by moving object
If multiple logger devices wake up at random or staggered intervals, then power consumption is reduced, but position data resolution and shipment visibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a structured periodic wake-up pattern where multiple logger devices wake up at different but predetermined time slots within each cycle. This ensures that position data is collected at regular, predictable intervals across the fleet, maintaining high position data resolution while avoiding continuous operation and reducing overall power consumption compared to simultaneous wake-ups
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the monitoring task among multiple logger devices, assigning each device specific time slots within a wake-up cycle. This segmentation ensures that position data is distributed across multiple time points, maintaining comprehensive coverage and high resolution without requiring any single device to operate continuously, thus reducing power consumption while preserving information quality
3Loss of information
If logger devices transmit all measured data at each wake-up event, then data completeness is improved, but communication energy consumption and network load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic data transmission where logger devices wake up at predetermined intervals to transmit measured environmental parameters and position data. This periodic approach ensures data completeness by systematically collecting information at regular intervals while consuming communication energy only when transmission is required, avoiding continuous communication and reducing overall energy loss
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-configures transmission schedules and identifies data that needs to be transmitted at each wake-up event. This preliminary planning ensures that only necessary data is transmitted at appropriate times, maintaining data completeness while optimizing communication energy consumption by avoiding unnecessary transmissions
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling multiple wireless logger devices is associated with a common shipment, where the logger devices are configured to measure environmental parameters while transporting the shipment from an origin location to a destination location and temporarily wake-up to transmit the measured environmental parameters together with position data of the logger devices to an external data processing device. Each of the logger devices includes: at least one sensing device for measuring at least one environmental parameter of the shipment, and a communication module for transmitting the measured environmental parameter to the external data processing device. The method includes configuring the logger devices to sequentially spread-out the transmission of the measured environmental parameters in a controlled way together with the position data for the common shipment, where the sequentially spread-out transmission is repetitively performed within a fixed time-interval.