Ad hoc wireless sensor package

• US 10,491,050 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2013
• Issued: 11/26/2019
• 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): Toatley, Jr., Gregory J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dinh, Lynda
• Application Number:
  US13/961,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20140175876A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,302 Days
• Field of Search: 702104-105, 307 18- 19, 307 23, 307 31
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 2038/143 for signals
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 38/14 Inductive couplings for wireless supply or distribution of electric power using inductive coupling H02J50/10
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/001 Energy harvesting or scavenging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• 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 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment

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 structurally integrated electromagnetic transducer; powering at least one transmitter via the electrical power 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 one or more sensors via the electrical power or charging one or more power storage devices electrically coupled to the one or more sensors via the electrical power.

Claims

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

detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated;

determining whether one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations;

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors;

determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy or whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy, the determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations or to charge the one or more power storage devices based at least partially on the determination whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations; and

at least one of directly powering the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations, or charging the one or more power storage devices if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

converting electromagnetic radiation from at least one radio frequency source via at least one electromagnetic radiation transducer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of drywall defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power comprises:

determining whether to directly power at least one sensor disposed on a surface of a portion of the partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by transmitting the electrical power from the at least one transducer to the at least one sensor via one or more electrical connections routed through at least a portion of the partition at least partially defining the region to be monitored by the one or more sensors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power comprises:

determining whether to directly power at least one sensor disposed on a surface of the portion of the partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by transmitting the electrical power from the at least one transducer to the at least one sensor via one or more inductive couplings between the at least one transducer and the at least one sensor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer at least partially disposed on a surface of a portion of the partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one micro-strip antenna at least partially disposed on a surface of a portion of the partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer integrated into at least one sheet affixed to a surface portion of the partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power comprises:

determining whether to directly power at least one wireless transmitter of the sensor device via the electrical power to wirelessly transmit sensor data signals.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, via the one or more sensor devices, one or more wireless signals indicative of one or more locations of the one or more sensors.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

receiving one or more electromagnetic radiation signals electronically transmitted to the one or more sensor devices; and

converting the one or more electromagnetic radiation signals into electrical power via the at least one transducer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving one or more electromagnetic radiation signals electronically transmitted to the one or more sensors comprises:

receiving one or more radio frequency signals electronically transmitted to the one or more sensor devices; and

converting the one or more radio frequency signals into electrical power via the at least one transducer.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving one or more electromagnetic radiation signals electronically transmitted to the one or more sensors comprises:

receiving one or more optical frequency signals electronically transmitted to the one or more sensor devices; and

converting the one or more optical frequency signals into electrical power via the at least one transducer.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, via the one or more sensors, one or more signals indicative of a presence of a sensor within the portion of the region to be monitored to a sensor monitoring device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitting, via the one or more sensors, one or more signals indicative of a presence of a sensor within the portion of the region to be monitored to a sensor monitoring device comprises:

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

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated comprises:

receiving one or more wireless sensor operation activation signals transmitted to the one or more sensor devices according to one or more external control signals.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated comprises:

receiving one or more wireless sensor operation activation signals transmitted to one or more sensor devices according to one or more external control signals received from at least one external device.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated comprises:

receiving one or more wireless sensor operation activation signals transmitted to one or more sensor devices according 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.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power includes:

determining whether to directly power one or more thermal sensing operations of a sensor via the electrical power.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power includes:

determining whether to directly power one or more pressure sensing operations of a sensor via the electrical power.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power includes:

determining whether to directly power one or more motion sensing operations of a sensor via the electrical power.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power includes:

determining whether to directly power one or more image sensing operations of a sensor via the electrical power.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power includes:

determining whether to directly power one or more audio sensing operations of a sensor via the electrical power.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to directly power one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors via the electrical power includes:

determining whether to directly power one or more electromagnetic radiation sensing operations of a sensor via the electrical power.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power comprises:

determining whether to charge one or more batteries via the electrical power.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power comprises:

determining whether to charge one or more capacitors via the electrical power.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wirelessly transmitting sensor data from the sensor to a sensor monitoring device.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors comprises:

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of at least one of drywall or sheetrock forming the partition at least partially defining the region to be monitored.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the one or more sensor devices is operating in a sensing mode or a transmitting mode based at least partly on the scheduled one or more sensing operations in one or more sensor devices.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether at least one of the one or more sensing operations scheduled to be activated in the one or more sensor devices is power-intensive.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy or whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy, the determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations or to charge the one or more power storage devices based at least partially on the determination whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations comprises:

determining whether the one or more sensor devices has sufficient power to perform a task based at least partly on the scheduled one or more sensing operations in one or more sensor devices; and

at least one of directly powering the sensor during the task or charging the one or more power storage devices based at least partially on the determination whether the one or more sensor devices has sufficient power to perform the task.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated comprises:

transmitting one or more sensor activation signals to the one or more sensor devices according to one or more schedules; and

initiating the one or more sensing operations via one or more sensors disposed within the one or more sensor devices based at least partly on the one or more sensor activation signals.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations comprises:

assessing sensor energy usage data associated with the one or more sensing operations scheduled to be activated;

receiving one or more energy storage parameters from one or more power storage monitoring modules; and

comparing the assessed sensor energy usage data with the received one or more power storage parameters to determine whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated comprises:

receiving one or more sensor activation schedules from one or more sensor activation schedule databases.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations comprises:

assessing sensor energy usage data associated with the one or more sensing operations scheduled to be activated;

receiving one or more energy storage indications from one or more power storage monitoring modules;

comparing the assessed sensor energy usage data with the received one or more power storage parameters to determine whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations, and

wherein the at least one of directly powering the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations, or charging the one or more power storage devices if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations includes at least;

directly powering the one or more sensing operations for a duration of the operation with the converted electrical power; and

charging the one or more power storage devices prior to and subsequent to the duration of the operation with the converted electrical power.

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

circuitry for detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated;

circuitry for determining, via one or more energy storage monitoring modules, whether one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations;

circuitry for converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors;

circuitry for determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy or whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy, the circuitry for determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations or to charge the one or more power storage devices based at least partially on the determination whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations; and

circuitry for at least one of directly powering the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations, or charging the one or more power storage devices if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations.

37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodying computer-readable instructions for execution of a process on a computing device, the process comprising:

detecting that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated;

determining whether one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations;

converting at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors;

determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy or whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy, the determining at least one of whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations or to charge the one or more power storage devices based at least partially on the determination whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations; and

at least one of directly powering the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations, or charging the one or more power storage devices if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations.

38. A device, comprising:

at least one processing device and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium bearing instructions that, when executed on the processing device, cause the processing device to at least;

detect that one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors disposed within one or more sensor devices is scheduled to be activated;

determine whether one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations;

convert at least one of electromagnetic radiation, vibrational movement, or air pressure changes into electrical power via at least one transducer disposed within an internal layer beneath a surface layer of a partition at least partially defining a region to be monitored by the one or more sensors;

determine whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy or whether to charge the one or more power storage devices via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy, the instructions to determine whether to directly power the one or more sensing operations or to charge the one or more power storage devices based at least partially on the determination whether the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the scheduled one or more sensing operations; and

at least one of directly power the one or more sensing operations via the electrical power if the one or more power storage devices has insufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations, or charge the one or more power storage devices if the one or more power storage devices has sufficient energy for the one or more scheduled sensing operations.