Smart data dissemination

• US 20070239862A1
• Filed: 04/07/2006
• Published: 10/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitre Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitre Corporation
• Inventors: Bronez, Thomas, Casagni, Michelle
• Granted Patent: US 8,892,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5051 Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5077 wherein the managed service relates to simple transport services, i.e. providing only network infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Methods and systems for smart data processing and dissemination in wireless sensor networks are provided herein. In one aspect, the present invention provides dynamic and independent data processing and dissemination at individual sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. In another aspect, the present invention provides data processing and/or dissemination methods at a sensor node that are responsive to, among other parameters, network traffic conditions, network connectivity conditions, conditions at the sensor node, and the data characteristics and QOS (Quality of Service) requirements of the data being processed and/or disseminated. In yet another aspect, data processing and/or dissemination rules according to the present invention are easily configurable and modifiable depending on the specific sensor networking application.

Claims

1. A method for data processing at a device in a network, comprising:

(a) receiving data for processing;

(b) determining data characteristics of the received data;

(c) determining network conditions of the network;

(d) determining device conditions of the device;

(e) selecting one or more actions to be performed on the received data according to a pre-determined rule set; and

(f) processing the received data according to the one or more selected actions,

wherein the pre-determined rule set defines actions to be performed on the received data based on the data characteristics, the network conditions, and/or the device conditions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises at least one of a radar sensor, a camera sensor, a trip wire sensor, a radar data display, and an image display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data originates at the device or is received from another device in the network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data characteristics of the received data comprise at least one of data type, data size, data origin, data destination, and data urgency.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network conditions comprise at least one of network traffic conditions, network load conditions, and network connectivity conditions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the device conditions comprise at least one of device power condition, device transmit/receive capabilities, device geographical location, and device supported network protocols.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set are prioritized according to action importance and/or action resource requirement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise data dissemination actions.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the data dissemination actions implement a plurality of network transport and routing protocols.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise data transformation actions such as data compression and/or data fusion.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise actions to trigger other actions at the device or at another device in the network.

12. A wireless device for processing and communicating data in a network, comprising:

(a) one or more sensors for sensing events in the network;

(b) a network monitor for monitoring network conditions;

(c) a device monitor for monitoring device conditions;

(d) a rules engine for processing the data and for specifying one or more actions to be performed on the data according to a pre-determined rule set;

(e) one or more actuators for performing the actions specified by the rules engine; and

(f) a network interface for communicating with other devices in the network,

wherein the pre-determined rule set defines the one or more actions to be performed on the data based on the network conditions, the device conditions, and/or data characteristics of the data.

13. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a radar sensor, a camera sensor, and a trip wire sensor.

14. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the one or more actuators comprise at least one of a radar data display, an image display, and a trip display.

15. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the data is generated by the one or more sensors of the device or is received from another device in the network.

16. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the data characteristics of the data comprise at least one of data type, data size, data origin, data destination, and data urgency.

17. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the network conditions comprise at least one of network traffic conditions, network load conditions, and network connectivity conditions.

18. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the device conditions comprise at least one of device power condition, device transmit/receive capabilities, device geographical location, and device supported network protocols.

19. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the one or more actions to be performed on the data comprise data dissemination actions for communicating the data to other devices in the network using the network interface.

20. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the data dissemination actions implement a plurality of network transport and routing protocols.

21. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the one or more actions comprise data transformation actions such as data compression and/or data fusion.

22. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the one or more actions comprise actions to trigger other actions at the device or at another device in the network.

23. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the rule set is independent of rule sets used at other devices in the network.

24. The method of claim 12, wherein the rule set is extensible and modifiable.