Medium access control in industrial and automotive wireless with combined wired and wireless sensor networks
First Claim
1. A sensor network, comprising:
- a plurality of gateways configured to communicate over a wired portion and a wireless portion of the sensor network;
a non-priority wireless node configured to communicate with at least one gateway of the plurality of gateways; and
a central unit configured to communicate with the plurality of gateways over the wired portion of the sensor network, wherein the central unit is further configured toreceive a plurality of link quality indicators from the plurality of gateways for respective wireless paths from the non-priority wireless node to the plurality of gateways,select a gateway of the plurality of gateways for relaying a message from the central unit to the non-priority wireless node,receive a resource allocation request from a first priority wireless node, andin response to receiving the resource allocation request, transmit, to the non-priority wireless node and the first priority wireless node, information indicating an allocation of a first timeslot, andreceive, from the non-priority wireless node, data in an unallocated timeslot different from the first timeslot.
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Abstract
An embodiment of the invention relates to a local area sensor network including a central unit configured to receive a resource allocation request from a priority network sensor in a reserved timeslot and in response to designate a shared timeslot allocation. The priority network sensor transmits a resource allocation request in a reserved timeslot, and the sensor transmits data in the allocated shared timeslot. A sensor network can be formed with multiple gateways that each communicate over wired and wireless portions of the network. The central unit communicates with the gateways over the wired portion of the network. Wireless nodes communicate wirelessly with the gateways. The central unit receives a plurality of link quality indicators from the gateways for respective wireless paths to the wireless sensors, and selects a gateway for relaying a message from the central unit to a wireless sensor based on the link quality indicators.
36 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sensor network, comprising:
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a plurality of gateways configured to communicate over a wired portion and a wireless portion of the sensor network; a non-priority wireless node configured to communicate with at least one gateway of the plurality of gateways; and a central unit configured to communicate with the plurality of gateways over the wired portion of the sensor network, wherein the central unit is further configured to receive a plurality of link quality indicators from the plurality of gateways for respective wireless paths from the non-priority wireless node to the plurality of gateways, select a gateway of the plurality of gateways for relaying a message from the central unit to the non-priority wireless node, receive a resource allocation request from a first priority wireless node, and in response to receiving the resource allocation request, transmit, to the non-priority wireless node and the first priority wireless node, information indicating an allocation of a first timeslot, and receive, from the non-priority wireless node, data in an unallocated timeslot different from the first timeslot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of operating a sensor network, the method comprising:
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configuring a plurality of gateways to communicate over a wired portion and a wireless portion of the sensor network; configuring a non-priority wireless node to communicate with at least one gate of the plurality of gateways; configuring a central unit to communicate with the plurality of gateways over the wired portion of the sensor network; receiving by the central unit a plurality of link quality indicators from the plurality of gateways for respective wireless paths from a wireless node to the plurality of gateways; selecting a gateway of the plurality of gateways by the central unit for relaying a message from the central unit to the wireless node; receiving, by the central unit, a resource allocation request from a first priority wireless node; in response to receiving the resource allocation request, transmitting, by the central unit, to the non-priority wireless node and the first priority wireless node, information indicating an allocation of a first timeslot; and receiving, by the central unit, data from the non-priority wireless node in an unallocated timeslot different from the first timeslot. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification