Hail and acceptance for battery-powered devices

• US 10,178,617 B2
• Filed: 05/01/2017
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mueller International LLC (Mueller Water Products Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mueller International LLC (Mueller Water Products Incorporated)
• Inventors: Splitz, David Edwin, Magley, Dale McLeod
• Primary Examiner(s): Dsouza, Adolf
• Application Number:
  US15/583,263
• Publication Number:
  US 20180317169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 617 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/10 using a centralized architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/75 by polling or interrogating the sub-stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/823 where the data is sent when the measured values exceed a threshold, e.g. sending an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/826 where the data is sent periodically
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/883 where the sensing device enters an active or inactive mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/02 Automatically-operated arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method of performing a hail communication attempt includes checking capacitor voltage of a capacitor in a battery pack powering a hailing device to determine whether the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds a threshold voltage, and responsive to determining that the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds the threshold voltage, transmitting a hail (ping) message to a target device, determining whether the hailing device has received a responsive pong message from the target device, and responsive to determining that the hailing device has received a responsive pong message, terminating the hail communication attempt in preparation for sending data to the target device. Hail communication attempts are limited according to a predetermined number of consecutive groups of consecutive hail messages, with the capacitor voltage check occurring before the sending of each group. The method is compatible with target devices having different sniffing intervals, so long as those sniffing intervals have predefined relationships.

Claims

1. A method of performing a hail communication attempt, comprising the steps of:

checking capacitor voltage across a capacitor in a battery pack powering a hailing device to determine whether the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds a threshold voltage; and

responsive to determining that the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds the threshold voltage

transmitting a hail message to a target device,

determining whether the hailing device has received a pong message from the target device, and

responsive to determining that the hailing device has received a pong message from the target device, terminating the hail communication attempt in preparation for sending data to the target device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hail message comprises a valid preamble portion having a length of 150 milliseconds.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of, responsive to determining that the capacitor voltage does not equal or exceed the threshold voltage:

implementing a sleep delay during which time the hailing device does not transmit hail messages, and

determining whether a delay time-out has been reached, the delay time-out having a value that varies according to a type of capacitor used by the hailing device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of, responsive to determining that the delay time-out has not been reached:

executing a looping routine by repeating the steps of checking the capacitor voltage, implementing the sleep delay, and determining whether the delay time-out has been reached following a repeated sleep delay, and

terminating the looping routine upon one of a determination that the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds the threshold voltage and reaching the delay time-out.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of, responsive to determining that the hailing device did not receive a pong message from the target device:

determining whether the hailing device reached a predetermined limit of consecutive hail group transmissions, each hail group comprising a predetermined number of consecutive hail messages that alternate between a first hailing channel and a second hailing channel; and

responsive to determining that the hailing device did not reach the predetermined limit of consecutive hail group transmissions

determining whether a most-recently transmitted hail message was a final hail message in the hail group, and

responsive to determining that the most-recently transmitted hail message was the final hail message in the hail group, implementing a timeslot delay, and repeating the steps beginning with the step of checking the capacitor voltage.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of, responsive to determining that the hailing device reached the predetermined limit of consecutive hail group transmissions, terminating the hail communication attempt.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the predetermined limit of consecutive hail group transmissions is four consecutive hail groups for hailing devices that are battery-powered nodes, and twelve consecutive hail groups for hailing devices that are infrastructure components.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the timeslot delay has a duration of 0.3 seconds.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein each hail group comprises ten hail messages, starts of each hail message separated from one another by a hail period.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the hail period has a length of 0.3 seconds.

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of, responsive to determining that the most-recently transmitted hail message was not the final hail message in its hail group:

transmitting another hail message in the group to the target device,

determining whether the hailing device has received a pong message from the target device, and

responsive to determining that the hailing device has received a pong message from the target device, terminating the hail communication attempt in preparation for sending data to the target device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, responsive to determining that the hailing device has not received a pong message from the target device, repeating steps beginning with the step of determining whether the hailing device reached a predetermined limit of consecutive hail group transmissions.

13. A node, comprising:

a processor; and

logic processed by the processor to

transmit hail messages both to a first target device configured to perform first cycles of channel activity detection (CAD), a first sniffing interval uniformly separating each of the first cycles, and to a second target device configured to perform second cycles of CAD, a second sniffing interval uniformly separating each of the second cycles, the second sniffing interval being smaller than the first sniffing interval, and a ratio of the first sniffing interval to the second sniffing interval equaling a whole number quotient,

limit a hail communication attempt according to a predetermined maximum number of groups of consecutive hail messages, each hail message in each group other than a first hail message being sent responsive to a determination that a preceding hail message was not acknowledged by the target device,

separate each hail message in each group by a hail period, and

separate each group by a timeslot delay.

14. The node of claim 13, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to set the predetermined maximum number of groups of consecutive hail messages to four groups.

15. The node of claim 13, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to transmit hail messages to a third target device configured to perform third cycles of CAD, a third sniffing interval uniformly separating each of the third cycles, the third sniffing interval being smaller than the first sniffing interval and different from the second sniffing interval, and a ratio of the first sniffing interval to the third sniffing interval equaling another whole number quotient.

16. The node of claim 13, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to transmit hail messages to a third target device configured to perform third cycles of CAD, a third sniffing interval uniformly separating each of the third cycles, the third sniffing interval being a multiple of the first sniffing interval.

17. The node of claim 13, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to:

check capacitor voltage of a capacitor in a battery pack powering the node to determine whether the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds a threshold voltage; and

responsive to determining that the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds the threshold voltage, transmitting a first hail message in a hail group to the target device.

18. The node of claim 17, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to bypass a checking of the capacitor voltage, and to send another hail message, responsive to a determination that a preceding hail message was both unacknowledged and not a final hail message in the hail group.

19. The node of claim 17, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to, responsive to determining that the capacitor voltage does not equal or exceed the threshold voltage

implement a sleep delay during which time the node does not transmit hail messages, and

determine whether a delay time-out has been reached, the delay time-out having a value that varies according to a type of capacitor used by the node.

20. The node of claim 19, wherein the logic is further processed by the processor to, responsive to determining that the delay time-out has not been reached

execute a looping routine by repeating steps of checking of the capacitor voltage, implementing the sleep delay, and determining whether the delay time-out has been reached following a repeated sleep delay, and

terminate the looping routine upon one of a determination that the capacitor voltage equals or exceeds the threshold voltage and reaching the delay time-out.

21. A wireless communication method, comprising the steps of:

listening, at a slave device and on a hailing channel during an idle state, for hail messages from a master device;

receiving a hail message from the master device;

sending a pong message to the master device;

listening, at the slave device and on a data channel during an accepting state data receive window, for a data message from the master device;

responsive to expiration of the accepting state data receive window without receipt of a data message, listening, at the slave device, during a hail receive window and on another hailing channel, for hail messages from the master device;

responsive to expiration of the hail receive window without receipt of a hail message on the another hail channel, again listening on the data channel, during the accepting state data receive window, for a data message from the master device; and

sequentially repeating the steps of listening for hail messages on a hailing channel, listening for data messages on the data channel, listening for hail messages on another hailing channel, and again listening for data messages on the data channel, until occurrence of an event selected from receipt of a data message and expiration of a timeout period without receipt of a data message.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of listening for hail messages on a hailing channel comprises performing channel activity detection of two non-frequency-hopping spread spectrum hail channels, one channel after the other, within 3 milliseconds.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of, responsive to receiving a first data message from the master device:

determining whether the first data message is valid; and

responsive to determining that the data message is valid, entering a connected state with the master device, whereby the slave device listens on the data channel for a second data message from the master device, the listening for the second data message occurring during a connected state data receive window.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of, responsive to receiving the second data message within the connected state data receive window, listening for a next data message from the master device.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of:

receiving the next data message from the master device;

listening during the connected state data receive window, and on the data channel, for an ensuing data message from the master device; and

repeating the steps of receiving the next data message and listening for an ensuing data message until expiration of the connected state data receive window without receipt of an ensuing data message.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of, responsive to a failure to receive the second data message within the connected state data receive window:

hopping to another data channel;

listening for the second data message on the another data channel during the connected state data receive window.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising repeating the steps of hopping to another data channel and listening for the second data message until occurrence of an event selected from receipt of the second data message and expiration of a timeout period without receipt of the second data message.