Ad Hoc wireless node and network

• US 20050078672A1
• Filed: 07/27/2004
• Published: 04/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SRI International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sarnoff Corporation (SRI International, Inc.)
• Inventors: Caliskan, Alaattin, Mandhyan, Indur, Siracusa, Robert J., Hashfield, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,436,789 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/42 Centralised routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A node is suitable for a wireless network. A wireless network comprises one or more sensor nodes and/or one or more control nodes. In the wireless network, the sensor node transmits in response to a sensed event and/or a request from a control node. A transmission/routing of data between a sensor node and/or a control node may be subject to a policy constraint and a resource constraint.

Claims

1. A node for an ad hoc wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes, said node comprising:

a first communication device for transmitting and receiving messages;

a first communication interface wrapper coupled to said first communication device for providing messages for transmission by said first communication device and for receiving messages received by said first communication device;

a routing protocol core coupled to said first communication interface wrapper for transforming messages from a communication protocol format to a node message format; and

a message distribution manager coupled to said routing protocol core and to said first communication interface wrapper for providing messages thereto in the node message format and for receiving messages therefrom in the node message format;

wherein messages are transmitted in accordance with at least one policy-based constraint and at least one resource-based constraint;

said node further comprising;

a sensor device coupled to said message distribution manager for communicating a sensed event to said message distribution manager; and

/or

a control application coupled to said message distribution manager for providing control messages thereto and for receiving response messages and data messages therefrom; and

/or

a second communication device for transmitting and receiving messages, and a second communication interface wrapper coupled to said second communication device for providing messages for transmission by said second communication device and for receiving messages received by said second communication device, wherein said second communication interface wrapper is coupled to said message distribution manager and said routing protocol core for providing messages thereto and for receiving messages therefrom.

2. The node of claim 1 wherein said first communication device and/or said second communication device includes a connection-oriented radio device, a connectionless radio device, an 802.11 device and/or a Bluetooth device.

3. The node of claim 1 further comprising a scatternet manager associated with one of said first and second communication devices for discovering neighboring node communication devices and for assigning the discovered communication devices to a piconet for inclusion in a scatternet.

4. The node of claim 1:

wherein said policy-based constraint includes any one or more of guaranteed delivery, message retransmission until receipt acknowledged, delaying transmission by a delay and/or a jittered delay, prohibiting use of a specific link, routing for security reasons, applying pre-assigned message priorities, prohibiting transmissions based upon a required minimum and/or maximum time interval between transmissions, discarding data deemed redundant, not transmitting redundant data, and not transmitting a redundant message, and

wherein said resource-based constraint includes any one or more of transmission delay, transmission jitter, link utilization, cost, hop count, link reliability, bandwidth, and selection of a link and/or message routing that provides a characteristic that is suitable for the type of data contained in the message.

5. The node of claim 1 wherein said node includes said sensor device and said control application, wherein said message distribution manager communicates messages between said sensor device and said control application without communicating the messages through said routing protocol core.

6. The node of claim 1 wherein said sensor device includes a processor and a plurality of sensors, said processor being responsive to a message received from said message distribution manager for providing an event message.

7. The node of claim 6 wherein the received messages include a get request, a set request, and/or a control message for one of said plurality of sensors.

8. The node of claim 6 wherein said processor collects event data from said plurality of sensors, and provides event messages representative of the event data from said plurality of sensors.

9. The node of claim 8 wherein, once activated to join said network, said plurality of sensors are activated periodically and/or a periodically, and/or wherein the event messages are provided by said processor periodically and/or a periodically.

10. The node of claim 6 wherein said plurality of sensors include any one or more of a voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, a timekeeping device, an acoustic sensor, a vibration detector, a seismic detector, a magnetic sensor, an imager, an IR sensor, an IR detector, a trip wire, a break-beam detector, an intrusion detector, an RFID interrogator, a location sensor, and a GPS sensor.

11. The node of claim 1 wherein the first and/or second communication devices thereof transmit messages only in response to an event sensed by said sensor device thereof and/or in response to a request from another node of the network that includes the control application.

12. The node of claim 1 wherein said routing protocol core includes an upper protocol stack and a routing protocol stack for cooperating with said first and/or second communication interface wrappers for accommodating said first and/or second communication devices operating under a plurality of different communication protocols.

13. An ad hoc wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes, each of said plurality of nodes comprising:

a first communication device for transmitting and receiving messages;

a first communication interface wrapper coupled to said first communication device for providing messages for transmission by said first communication device and for receiving messages received by said first communication device;

a routing protocol core coupled to said first communication interface wrapper for transforming messages from a communication protocol format to a node message format; and

a message distribution manager coupled to said routing protocol core and to said first communication interface wrapper for providing messages thereto in the node message format and for receiving messages therefrom in the node message format;

wherein messages are transmitted in accordance with at least one policy-based constraint and at least one resource-based constraint;

each of said plurality of nodes further comprising;

a sensor device coupled to said message distribution manager for communicating a sensed event to said message distribution manager; and

/or

a control application coupled to said message distribution manager for providing control messages thereto and for receiving response messages and data messages therefrom; and

/or

a second communication device for transmitting and receiving messages, and a second communication interface wrapper coupled to said second communication device for providing messages for transmission by said second communication device and for receiving messages received by said second communication device, wherein said second communication interface wrapper is coupled to said message distribution manager and said routing protocol core for providing messages thereto and for receiving messages therefrom.

14. The network of claim 13 wherein first ones of said plurality of nodes communicate to define a first piconet.

15. The network of claim 14 wherein second ones of said plurality of nodes communicate to define a second piconet, wherein one of said first ones of said plurality of nodes is included in said second ones of said plurality of nodes to define a scatternet linking the first and second piconets.

16. The network of claim 13 wherein first ones of said plurality of nodes communicate to define a first piconet communicating in a first protocol, and wherein second ones of said plurality of nodes communicate to define a second piconet communicating in a second protocol, wherein one of said plurality of nodes is a relay node including said first and said second communication devices for linking the first and second piconets in a scatternet, wherein said first communication device communicates in the first protocol and said second communication device communicates in the second protocol.

17. The network of claim 13 wherein at least one of said plurality of nodes is a sensor node including at least one said sensor device and wherein at least one of said nodes is a control node including said control application for controlling said sensor node.

18. The network of claim 13 wherein said first communication device and/or said second communication device includes a connection-oriented radio device, a connectionless radio device, an 802.11 device and/or a Bluetooth device.

19. The network of claim 13 wherein one of said plurality of nodes further comprises a scatternet manager associated with one of said first and second communication devices thereof for discovering neighboring node communication devices and for assigning the discovered communication devices to a piconet for inclusion in a scatternet.

20. The network of claim 13 wherein one of said plurality of nodes includes said sensor device and said control application, wherein said message distribution manager of said one of said plurality of nodes communicates messages between said sensor device thereof and said control application thereof without communicating the messages through said routing protocol core thereof.

21. The network of claim 13:

wherein said policy-based constraint includes any one or more of guaranteed delivery, message retransmission until receipt acknowledged, delaying transmission by a delay and/or a jittered delay, prohibiting use of a specific link, routing for security reasons, applying pre-assigned message priorities, prohibiting transmissions based upon a required minimum and/or maximum time interval between transmissions, discarding data deemed redundant, not transmitting redundant data, and not transmitting a redundant message, and

wherein said resource-based constraint includes any one or more of transmission delay, transmission jitter, link utilization, cost, hop count, link reliability, bandwidth, and selection of a link and/or message routing that provides a characteristic that is suitable for the type of data contained in the message.

22. The network of claim 13 wherein said sensor device of one of said plurality of nodes includes a processor and a plurality of sensors, said processor being responsive to a message received from said message distribution manager of said one of said plurality of nodes for providing an event message.

23. The network of claim 22 wherein the received messages include a get request, a set request, and/or a control message for one of said plurality of sensors.

24. The network of claim 22 wherein said processor collects event data from said plurality of sensors of said one of said plurality of nodes, and provides event messages representative of the event data from said plurality of sensors thereof.

25. The network of claim 24 wherein said plurality of sensors are activated periodically and/or a periodically, and/or wherein the event messages are provided by said processor periodically and/or a periodically.

26. The network of claim 22 wherein said plurality of sensors include any one or more of a voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, a timekeeping device, an acoustic sensor, a vibration detector, a seismic detector, a magnetic sensor, an imager, an IR sensor, an IR detector, a trip wire, a break-beam detector, an intrusion detector, an RFID interrogator, a location sensor, and a GPS sensor.

27. The network of claim 13 wherein one of said plurality of nodes includes said sensor device and, once activated to join said network, the first and/or second communication devices thereof transmit messages only in response to an event sensed by said sensor device thereof and/or in response to a request from another of said plurality of nodes including said control application.

28. The network of claim 13 wherein said routing protocol core of one of said plurality of nodes includes an upper protocol stack and a routing protocol stack for cooperating with said first and/or second communication interface wrappers thereof for accommodating said first and/or second communication devices operating under a plurality of different communication protocols.

29. A sensor node for a wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes at least one of which is a control node, said sensor node comprising:

a plurality of sensors for sensing an event and/or a condition;

means for collecting and storing sensed data from said plurality of sensors;

means for applying to the stored sensed data at least one policy-based constraint and at least one resource-based constraint;

means for storing an identifier of a control node and an associated data request received from the identified control node; and

means for sending stored sensed data of an event and/or condition to an identified control node if the stored sensed data satisfies a data request received from the identified control node and/or if the stored sensed data satisfies the policy-based constraint and the resource-based constraint.

30. The sensor node of claim 29 wherein said means for sending periodically sends data representative of a condition of the sensor node.

31. The sensor node of claim 30 wherein the condition of the sensor node includes any one or more of a voltage, a temperature, a time, a location, and a GPS position.

32. The sensor node of claim 29 wherein said means for sending sends data representative of an event upon occurrence of the event.

33. The sensor node of claim 32 wherein the event includes any one or more of an acoustic event, a vibration, a seismic event, a magnetic event, an image, an IR event, a tripped trip wire, a broken break-beam, a made break-beam, an RFID interrogation, and an intrusion.

34. The sensor node of claim 29:

wherein said policy-based constraint includes any one or more of guaranteed delivery, message retransmission until receipt acknowledged, delaying transmission by a delay and/or a jittered delay, prohibiting use of a specific link, routing for security reasons, applying pre-assigned message priorities, prohibiting transmissions based upon a required minimum and/or maximum time interval between transmissions, discarding data deemed redundant, not transmitting redundant data, and not transmitting a redundant message, and

wherein said resource-based constraint includes any one or more of transmission delay, transmission jitter, link utilization, cost, hop count, link reliability, bandwidth, and selection of a link and/or message routing that provides a characteristic that is suitable for the type of data contained in the message.

35. The sensor node of claim 29 wherein the stored sensed data is in a node protocol, and wherein said means for sending stored sensed data comprises:

a communication device for communicating in a communication protocol; and

an interface wrapper for providing the stored sensed data to said communication device for transmission in the communication protocol.

36. The sensor node of claim 35 wherein said communication device receives requests for data from a control node in the communication protocol, and wherein said interface wrapper provides the data and requests for data received from the control node in the node protocol.

37. A method for a wireless network including one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes comprising:

deploying one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes;

establishing a piconet and/or a scatternet comprising the one or more sensor nodes and the one or more control nodes, wherein each of the one or more sensor nodes and each of the one or more control nodes joins the piconet and/or scatternet upon deployment by;

transmitting upon deployment one or more “

hello”

messages including at least a node identifier; and

receiving from another of the one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes a routing message in response to the one or more “

hello”

messages, the routing message including a route to at least one other of the one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes; and

thereafter, transmitting a packet of data from a sensor node only in response to a sensed event and/or a request from a control node.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising:

accumulating in a sensor node and/or a control node routing messages from a plurality of other ones of the one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes; and

selecting from the accumulated routing messages one or more routes between one of the sensor nodes and one of the control nodes that is deemed optimum in accordance with predefined route selection criteria.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the predefined route selection criteria include any one or more of a shortest route, a route having a fewest number of hops, a more direct route, a route delay, a route jitter, a route having a higher bandwidth, and a route having higher reliability.

40. The method of claim 37 further comprising at a sensor node:

receiving one or more data requests from one or more control nodes;

activating a sensor for detecting an event and/or condition defined by the received data request;

detecting the event and/or condition defined by the received data request;

transmitting a packet of data representative of the event and/or condition defined by the received data request.

41. The method of claim 40:

wherein said receiving one or more data requests includes storing each received data request and an identifier of the control node from which that data request is received; and

wherein said transmitting a packet of data includes transmitting to the identified control node from which the stored data request was received the data representing the event and/or condition defined by the stored data request and identifier received from that identified control node.

42. The method of claim 37 wherein the request from a control node defines a characteristic of requested data, and wherein said transmitting a packet of data comprises:

activating a sensor for sensing an event and/or condition identified by the request from a control node;

storing sensed data from the activated sensor for each sensed event and/or condition identified by the request; and

transmitting the sensed data if it meets the defined characteristic of requested data.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein said activating a sensor includes activating a sensor periodically and/or in response to an identified event and/or condition.

44. The method of claim 37 wherein said transmitting a packet of data includes transmitting data in accordance with at least one policy-based constraint and at least one resource-based constraint.

45. The method of claim 44:

wherein said policy-based constraint includes any one or more of guaranteed delivery, message retransmission until receipt acknowledged, delaying transmission by a delay and/or a jittered delay, prohibiting use of a specific link, routing for security reasons, applying pre-assigned message priorities, prohibiting transmissions based upon a required minimum and/or maximum time interval between transmissions, discarding data deemed redundant, not transmitting redundant data, and not transmitting a redundant message, and

wherein said resource-based constraint includes any one or more of transmission delay, transmission jitter, link utilization, cost, hop count, link reliability, bandwidth, and selection of a link and/or message routing that provides a characteristic that is suitable for the type of data contained in the message.

46. A method for a wireless network including one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes in a piconet and/or a scatternet, the method for establishing a piconet and/or a scatternet of the one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes comprising:

activating a new node that is a sensor node or a control node;

transmitting upon deployment of the new node at least one “

hello”

message including at least an identifier of the new node;

receiving at a neighbor node the “

hello”

message transmitted by the new node;

transmitting from the neighbor node in response to the received “

hello”

message a routing message including a route to at least one other of the one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes;

receiving at the new node the routing message transmitted by the neighbor node;

storing at the new node the routing message received from the neighbor node; and

if the stored routing message contains a route to a control node;

transmitting from the new node to the control node a detailed “

hello”

message including the new node identifier and characteristics of the new node; and

awaiting a response from the control node;

or

if the stored routing message contains a route to a sensor node and the new node is a control node;

transmitting from the new control node to the sensor node a request for data from the sensor node; and

awaiting a response from the sensor node.

47. The method of claim 46 further comprising:

thereafter, transmitting a packet of data from a sensor node only in response to a sensed event and/or a request from a control node.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein said transmitting a packet of data includes transmitting data in accordance with at least one policy-based constraint and at least one resource-based constraint.

49. The method of claim 48:

wherein said policy-based constraint includes any one or more of guaranteed delivery, message retransmission until receipt acknowledged, delaying transmission by a delay and/or a jittered delay, prohibiting use of a specific link, routing for security reasons, applying pre-assigned message priorities, prohibiting transmissions based upon a required minimum and/or maximum time interval between transmissions, discarding data deemed redundant, not transmitting redundant data, and not transmitting a redundant message, and

wherein said resource-based constraint includes any one or more of transmission delay, transmission jitter, link utilization, cost, hop count, link reliability, bandwidth, and selection of a link and/or message routing that provides a characteristic that is suitable for the type of data contained in the message.

50. The method of claim 46 further comprising:

accumulating in a sensor node and/or a control node routing messages from a plurality of other ones of the one or more sensor nodes and one or more control nodes; and

selecting from the accumulated routing messages one or more routes between one of the sensor nodes and one of the control nodes that is deemed optimum in accordance with predefined route selection criteria.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the predefined route selection criteria include any one or more of a shortest route, a route having a fewest number of hops, a more direct route, a route delay, a route jitter, a route having a higher bandwidth, and a route having higher reliability.

52. The method of claim 46 wherein the detailed “

hello”

message from a new node defines as a characteristic of the new node that it includes a sensor of its position, the method further comprising;

requesting by the control node of position data from the new node; and

transmitting from the new node position data generated by the position sensor thereof.

53. The method of claim 46 wherein said transmitting from the neighbor node includes not transmitting if the neighbor does not know a route to a control node.

54. The method of claim 46 further comprising:

activating a new node that is a relay node communicating in both of first and second communication protocols;

performing for said relay node said transmitting upon deployment, said receiving at a neighbor node, said transmitting from the neighbor node, said receiving at the new node, and said storing at the new node as set forth in claim 46;

and

linking via the relay node a first piconet including one or more sensor nodes and/or one or more control nodes communicating in the first communication protocol and a second piconet including one or more sensor nodes and/or one or more control nodes communicating in the second communication protocol.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein said first communication protocol and/or said second communication protocol includes a connection-oriented radio protocol, a connectionless radio protocol, an 802.11 protocol and/or a Bluetooth protocol.