INTELLIGENT SENSOR NETWORK

• US 20060280129A1
• Filed: 06/14/2005
• Published: 12/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhatia, Harsaran S., Kline, Eric V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,701,874 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery

Abstract

The present invention provides a method, system, and program product for the deployment and use of an intelligent sensor network. More particularly, the method, system, and program product of the present invention enable the deployment and use of fused sensors in an arbitrary area or volume. In a first aspect, the invention provides a method for employing a multi-sensor network, the method comprising the steps of employing a first sensor, employing a plurality of additional sensors, a position of each additional sensor within the network being relative in at least two dimensions to only one of the first sensor and an adjacent sensor nearer the first sensor, and employing a routing algorithm for determining a routing path for data in the network.

Claims

1. A method for employing a multi-sensor network, the method comprising the steps of:

employing a first sensor;

employing a plurality of additional sensors, a position of each additional sensor within the network being relative in at least two dimensions to only one of the first sensor and an adjacent sensor nearer the first sensor; and

employing a routing algorithm for determining a routing path for data in the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the employing a routing algorithm step includes routing data from one of the plurality of additional sensors to the first sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the employing a routing algorithm step includes routing data from one of the plurality of additional sensors to the first sensor through another of the plurality of additional sensors.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the employing a routing algorithm step includes determining a routing path having at least one orthogonal shift.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one orthogonal shift routes the data closer to the first sensor while maintaining a greater distance from the first sensor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing algorithm includes a user-defined axis preference for determining an axis along which the data is first routed when more than one routing path route the data closer to the first sensor while maintaining a greater distance from the first sensor.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the employing a routing algorithm step includes determining a routing path that excludes a non-functional sensor.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising acquiring at least one of acoustical, visual, positional, directional, motion, temporal, vibrational, seismic, electrical, magnetic, thermal, chemical, biological, or radiological data using at least one sensor.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the employing a first sensor step includes establishing the first sensor as a network portal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of additional sensors functions as a network portal in response to the first sensor becoming unavailable.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the means for employing the routing algorithm includes means for determining a routing path that excludes a non-functional sensor.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one sensor is a sensor adapted to acquire at least one of acoustical, visual, positional, directional, motion, temporal, vibrational, seismic, electrical, magnetic, thermal, chemical, biological, or radiological data.

11. A system for employing a multi-sensor network, the system comprising:

means for employing a first sensor;

means for employing a plurality of additional sensors, a position of each additional sensor within the network being relative in at least two dimensions to only one of the first sensor and an adjacent sensor nearer the first sensor; and

means for employing a routing algorithm for determining a routing path for data in the network.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for employing a routing algorithm includes means for routing data from one of the plurality of additional sensors to the first sensor.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for employing a routing algorithm includes means for routing data from one of the plurality of additional sensors to the first sensor through another of the plurality of additional sensors.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for employing a routing algorithm includes means for determining a routing path having at least one orthogonal shift.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one orthogonal shift routes the data closer to the first sensor while maintaining a greater distance from the first sensor.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the routing algorithm includes a user-defined axis preference for determining an axis along which the data is first routed when more than one routing path route the data closer to the first sensor while maintaining a maximum distance from the first sensor.

19. A computer readable medium comprising computer program code embodied therein for employing a multi-sensor network, the program product comprising:

program code for employing a first sensor;

program code for employing a plurality of additional sensors, a position of each additional sensor within the network being relative in at least two dimensions to only one of the first sensor and an adjacent sensor nearer the first sensor; and

program code for employing a routing algorithm for determining a routing path for data in the network.

20. The program product of claim 19, wherein the routing path includes at least one orthogonal shift, routes the data closer to the first sensor while maintaining a maximum distance from the first sensor, and is adapted to exclude a non-functional sensor.