False alarm mitigation using a sensor network

• US 20060152355A1
• Filed: 12/27/2004
• Published: 07/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Mo, Brian S., Suenbuel, Asuman, Odenwald, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 7,250,855 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/511
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/12 responsive to undesired emission of substances, e.g. pollution alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/188 Data fusion; cooperative systems, e.g. voting among different detectors

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for processing, at a sensor node within a sensor network, a set of sensor readings to determine whether an event has occurred, the set of sensor readings including one or more sensor readings for corresponding environmental conditions. The processing includes determining whether a sensor reading exceeds its corresponding threshold value for an environmental condition, and if so, comparing the set of sensor readings with a history log file to determine whether a false alarm event has occurred. The history log file includes one or more sets of historic sensor readings for corresponding environmental conditions, each set being associated with an environmental situation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a sensor node within a sensor network, processing a set of sensor readings to determine whether an event has occurred, the set of sensor readings comprising one or more sensor readings for corresponding environmental conditions, the processing comprising;

determining whether a sensor reading exceeds a corresponding threshold value for an environmental condition, and if so, comparing the set of sensor readings with a history log file to determine whether a false alarm event has occurred.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving sensed data from a plurality of sensors; and

processing the sensed data to generate the set of sensor readings.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the plurality of sensors are located on one or more remote sensor nodes within the sensor network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing further comprises:

identifying an environmental situation for the sensor node.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the processing further comprises:

selecting a set of threshold values associated with the identified environmental situation, the selected set including threshold values for corresponding environmental conditions; and

comparing the set of sensor readings with the selected set of threshold values to determine whether a sensor reading exceeds its corresponding threshold value for an environmental condition.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying the environmental situation comprises:

comparing the set of sensor readings with one or more sets of ideal values, each set including ideal values for corresponding environmental conditions given an environmental situation; and

identifying the environmental situation for the sensor node based on the comparison.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the history log file comprises one or more sets of historic sensor readings for corresponding environmental conditions, each set being associated with an environmental situation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an alert if the determination is made that a false alarm event has not occurred; and

sending the alert to a remote computing system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the alert comprises a sensor node identifier and the set of sensor readings.

10. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product being operable to cause a machine at a sensor node within a sensor network to:

process a set of sensor readings to determine whether an event has occurred, the set of sensor readings comprising one or more sensor readings for corresponding environmental conditions, the product being operable to cause the machine to process by;

determining whether a sensor reading exceeds its corresponding threshold value for an environmental condition, and if so, comparing the set of sensor readings with a history log file to determine whether a false alarm event has occurred.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, being further operable to cause a machine to:

receive sensed data from a plurality of sensors; and

process the sensed data to generate the set of sensor readings.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, being further operable to cause a machine to:

receive sensed data from one or more sensor located on one or more remote sensor nodes within the sensor network.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, being further operable to cause a machine to:

identify an environmental situation for the sensor node.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, being further operable to cause a machine to:

select a set of threshold values associated with the identified environmental situation, the selected set including threshold values for corresponding environmental conditions; and

compare the set of sensor readings with the selected set of threshold values to determine whether a sensor reading exceeds its corresponding threshold value for an environmental condition.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, being further operable to cause a machine to:

compare the set of sensor readings with one or more sets of ideal values, each set including ideal values for corresponding environmental conditions given an environmental situation; and

identify the environmental situation for the sensor node based on the comparison.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the history log file comprises one or more sets of historic sensor readings for corresponding environmental conditions, each set being associated with an environmental situation.

17. The computer program product of claim 10, being further operable to cause a machine to:

generate an alert if the determination is made that a false alarm event has not occurred; and

send the alert to a remote computing system.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the alert comprises a sensor node identifier and the set of sensor readings.

19. A system comprising:

memory in which a plurality of data sets are stored, the plurality of data sets comprising one or more sets of historic sensor readings and one or more sets of threshold values, each data set being associated with an environmental situation; and

a processor to execute a program configured to;

identify an environmental situation for the sensor node;

determine whether a set of sensor readings fails to satisfy the set of threshold values associated with the identified environmental situation, and if so, compare the set of sensor readings with one or more sets of historic sensor readings to determine whether a false alarm event has occurred.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the program is further configured to:

receive sensed data from a plurality of sensors; and

process the sensed data to generate the set of sensor readings.