Interface for Sensor Query and Control

• US 20070078527A1
• Filed: 09/15/2006
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Wormer, Joel, Gonzalez-Banos, Hector, Guan, Li
• Granted Patent: US 8,355,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/19
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/00 Arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless electrical link
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented that enable a higher-level software application to query and control a sensor through a generic interface. In one embodiment, a system includes a controller, and interface, and a set of sensor driver modules. The interface receives a command from the controller and sends it to the driver modules. The interface includes a client, a server, and a network. The server includes two interfaces: a client interface to communicate with the client and a driver interface to communicate with the driver modules. The server also includes two buffers: a command queue and a reply queue. The command queue stores commands received from the controller (via the client). The reply queue stores replies received from the driver modules.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a sensor, comprising:

defining a parameter of the sensor, wherein the parameter describes a state of the sensor;

defining a command that can be executed with respect to the parameter;

receiving, from a sensor controller module, the command; and

sending, to a sensor driver module, the command.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter describes a configuration of the sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter describes data sensed by the sensor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein defining the parameter of the sensor comprises specifying whether a value of the parameter can be set.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command sets a value of the parameter.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command sets a default value of the parameter.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command sets a value of the parameter to a default value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command sets a factory default value of the parameter.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command sets a value of the parameter to a factory default value.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command prevents a value of the parameter from being set.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the command allows a value of the parameter to be set.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the command includes a starting time.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the sensor controller module, the command comprises receiving, from one of a plurality of sensor controller modules, the command.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the sensor controller module, the command comprises receiving, from the sensor controller module, a set of commands that includes the command.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein sending, to the sensor driver module, the command comprises sending, to one of a plurality of sensor driver modules, the command.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the sensor driver module, a reply; and

sending, to the sensor controller module, the reply.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the reply includes a value of the parameter.

18. A system for controlling a sensor, comprising:

means for defining a parameter of the sensor, wherein the parameter describes a state of the sensor;

means for defining a command that can be executed with respect to the parameter;

means for receiving, from a sensor controller module, the command; and

means for sending, to a sensor driver module, the command.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

means for receiving, from the sensor driver module, a reply; and

means for sending, to the sensor controller module, the reply.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the reply includes a value of the parameter.