APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPTIMIZING SLOT LOCATIONS FOR WIRELESS SENSORS

• US 20090185546A1
• Filed: 01/18/2008
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Ross, John Anderson Fergus, Davenport, David Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,675,613 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/345
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless communication system includes a network controller configured to manage communication time periods in a wireless network, and a plurality of peripheral devices connected to the network controller through the wireless network. Each peripheral device is associated with a respective contiguous communication time period during which communications between the network controller and the peripheral device are allowed. The network controller is further configured to identify an open communication time period associated with one of the plurality of peripheral devices that has no communication between the network controller and the one of the plurality of peripheral devices and associate another of the plurality of peripheral devices that is associated with a different communication time period with the identified open communication time period.

Claims

1. A wireless communication system comprising:

a network controller configured to manage communication time periods in a wireless network;

a plurality of peripheral devices connected to the network controller through the wireless network, each peripheral device associated with a respective contiguous communication time period during which communications between the network controller and the peripheral device are allowed;

wherein the network controller is further configured to;

identify an open communication time period associated with one of the plurality of peripheral devices that has no communication between the network controller and the one of the plurality of peripheral devices; and

associate another of the plurality of peripheral devices that is associated with a different communication time period with the identified open communication time period.

2. The wireless communication system of claim 1 further comprising a super-management device configured to control two or more network controllers.

3. The wireless communication system of claim 2 wherein the two or more network controllers are controlled by the super-management device to each have communication time periods that are contiguous with one another.

4. The wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein the network controller is configured to associate each of the plurality of peripheral devices with the contiguous communication time period.

5. The wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of peripheral devices is a patient monitoring sensor.

6. The wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein the network controller is further configured to disassociate from and cease further communication with the one of the plurality of peripheral devices that has no communication with the network controller.

7. The wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of peripheral devices connected to the network controller communicates sensor information during its associated communication time period.

8. The wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein each communication time period includes a peripheral device transmission period and a management device transmission period.

9. The wireless communication system of claim 8 wherein the management device transmission period occurs before the peripheral device transmission period.

10. A method for managing a wireless communication system comprising the steps of:

assigning each of a plurality of peripheral devices to a respective one of a plurality of communication time periods of a wireless network;

identifying, from the plurality of communication time periods, a first communication time period occurring between a pair of communication time periods, wherein the first communication time period has no communication between the peripheral device assigned thereto and a network controller; and

re-assigning the peripheral device that is assigned to one of the pair of communication time periods to the first communication time period.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of assigning comprises assigning at least one patient monitoring device.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of communication time periods includes a peripheral device transmission period and a management device transmission period.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the communication time periods in the plurality of communication time periods are contiguous.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of assigning a temporal placement of a time frame comprising the plurality of communication time periods.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the computing device is further caused to:

control transmission of the plurality of wireless sensor devices using a first network controller; and

cause a second network controller to transmit sensor information based on input from the first network controller, such that transmissions from the first network controller and the second network controller do not interfere with one another.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the computing device is further caused to disassociate itself from and cease further communication with the first wireless sensing device.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein at least one of the plurality of wireless sensor devices is a patient monitoring sensor.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 having further instructions to cause the computer to create a computing device transmission period for the computing device.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 having further instructions to cause the controller transmission period to occur before a wireless patient sensor device transmission period.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein both the controller transmission period and the sensor device transmission period are contiguous with each other.

15. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to:

instruct each of a plurality of wireless sensor devices to transmit sensor information to the computing device during a respective contiguous time frame such that each contiguous time frame corresponds to a respective wireless sensor device;

identify an open time frame corresponding to a first wireless sensing device of the plurality of wireless sensor devices that is void of sensor information transmission to the computing device; and

instruct a second wireless sensing device of the plurality of wireless sensing devices to transmit sensor information to the computing device during the identified open time frame.