Ad-hoc wireless sensor package

• US 10,230,267 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2013
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cheatham, III, Jesse R., Dyor, Matthew G., Glaskowsky, Peter N., Hallman, Kimberly D. A., Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K. Y., Koenig, Michael F., Lord, Robert W., Lord, Richard T., Mundie, Craig J., Myhrvold, Nathan P., Petroski, Robert C., Tan, Desney S., Wood, Jr., Lowell L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, John H
• Application Number:
  US13/934,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20140176061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,078 Days
• Field of Search: 702 57, 702 60, 702 61, 702 63, 702100, 702127, 702150, 136201, 318109, 700253, 307 23, 320101, 320108
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/001 Energy harvesting or scavenging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/30 using light, e.g. lasers
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/40 using two or more transmitting or receiving devices H02J50/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/60 responsive to the presence of foreign objects, e.g. detection of living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge

Abstract

Systems, methods, computer-readable storage mediums including computer-readable instructions and/or circuitry for control of transmission to a target device with communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network may implement operations including, but not limited to: generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one transducer; powering at least one transmitter via the electrical power from at least one ambient source to wirelessly transmit one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors; and at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of the one or more sensors or charging one or more power storage devices of the one or more sensors via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

Claims

1. A method for powering one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network comprising:

transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored;

receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored;

generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power;

storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors; and

powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors.

2. A system for communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network comprising:

at least one computing device; and

one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one computing device, program the at least one computing device for;

transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored;

receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored;

generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power;

storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors; and

powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors.

3. A system for communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network comprising:

circuitry for transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored;

circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored;

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power;

circuitry for storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors; and

circuitry for powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one of an electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one substantially visibly transparent transducer.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one at least partially visibly transparent transducer operably coupled to at least one window structure.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for transmitting at least one of one or more optical frequency signals or one or more radio frequency signals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or more sensors.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more lower-power signals to one or more sensors with a sensor monitoring device;

circuitry for powering at least one wireless transmitter via the electrical power from at least one ambient source to wirelessly transmit one or more higher power signals to the one or more sensors with the sensor monitoring device.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more signals via a passive radio frequency identification chip of the sensor.

9. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more signals via at least one of a retroreflector or another microelectromechanical device of the sensor.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the circuitry for transmitting one or more signals via at least one of a retroreflector or another microelectromechanical device of the sensor comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more signals from one or more sensor acquisition transceivers, the one or more signals targeted for one or more reflective surfaces disposed on a surface of the sensor.

11. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more signals indicative of a sensor type associated with a sensor.

12. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more external control signals.

13. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more external control signals received from at least one external device.

14. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more external control signals received from one or more switches.

15. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more sensor signals indicative of a presence or absence of one or more objects within the portion of a region including at least one sensor.

16. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for powering one or more thermal sensing operations or pressure sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

17. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for powering one or more image sensing operations or motion sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

18. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for powering one or more audio sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

19. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for powering one or more electromagnetic radiation sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

20. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for charging one or more batteries via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

21. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for charging one or more capacitors via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

22. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for wirelessly transmitting sensor data from the sensor to the sensor monitoring device in response to the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one at least partially visibly transparent transducer including one or more polymeric structures.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer including one or more organic structures.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer including one or more carbon nanotube structures.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer including one or more graphene structures.

27. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for determining whether one or more specified objects are present within the portion of the region to be monitored; and

circuitry for determining whether to transmit one or more sensor operation activation signals to the one or more sensors based at least partly on the determination whether the one or more specified objects are present within the portion of the region to be monitored.

28. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored responsive to the transmitted one or more sensor acquisition signals.

29. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more sensor operation requirements.

30. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power comprises:

circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one mechanical transducer operative to convert mechanical vibrations into electrical power, the at least one mechanical transducer coupled with at least one structure within the region to be monitored.

31. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors comprises:

circuitry for determining whether to store the generated electrical power or to power the one or more sensors directly from the electromagnetic transducer; and

circuitry for selecting to power the one or more sensors directly from the electromagnetic transducer based at least partly on at least one indication that the one or more sensors requires additional power to perform a sensing operation.

32. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for receiving an indication from at least one of the one or more sensors that the one or more sensors requires additional power to perform a sensing operation; and

circuitry for at least partially powering the one or more sensors directly from the electromagnetic transducer based at least partly on the circuitry for receiving the indication that the one or more sensors requires additional power to perform the sensing operation.

33. The system of claim 3, wherein the circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored comprises:

circuitry for determining that at least one of the one or more sensors is proximate to a window,

wherein the circuitry for generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power includes at least;

circuitry for enabling a substantially visually transparent electromagnetic transducer physically coupled to the window.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program containing instructions for:

transmitting one or more sensor acquisition signals to a portion of a region to be monitored;

receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of one or more sensors within the portion of the region to be monitored;

generating electrical power from at least one ambient source via at least one electromagnetic transducer operative to convert ambient electromagnetic radiation into electrical power;

storing the generated electrical power in at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors; and

powering at least one of the one or more sensors via the electrical power from the at least one energy storage device located proximate to the one or more locations of the one or more sensors.