Fault-Tolerant Wireless Irrigation System
First Claim
1. A method for remote management of a controller, the method comprising the steps of:
- the controller establishing a first communication link to one or more servers via a first communication mechanism;
while the first communication link is established, the controller operating in a first mode;
while the controller operates in the first mode, performing the steps of;
the controller receiving a first command from one of said one or more servers via the first communication link;
in response to receiving the first command, the controller executing the first command;
in response to detecting a failure of the first communication link, the controller transitioning to a second mode;
while the controller operates in the second mode, performing at least one of the steps of;
(a) the controller executing one or more stored sets of instructions for operating in the second mode until the controller re-establishes the first communication link, wherein the one or more stored sets of instructions have been received from at least one of said one or more servers;
or(b) the controller establishing a second communication link to the one or more servers via a second communication mechanism, wherein the second communication mechanism is of a different type than the first communication mechanism.
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Abstract
A node of a fault-tolerant system relies upon a primary communication mechanism, when possible, for primary connection to a central server. The node monitors its primary connection to the server. While the primary connection is active, the node operates in a supervised mode, in that it generally does not perform a certain subset of tasks without having received real-time commands from the server to perform those tasks. However, when the node detects that it is no longer connected to the server, the node transitions into a fail-over mode. The node operates in the fail-over mode until the node detects that primary connection is re-established. While in fail-over mode, the node may execute a stored set of fail-over instructions that were provided by the server. The node may also attempt to establish a backup connection to the server via a second and different type of communication mechanism.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for remote management of a controller, the method comprising the steps of:
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the controller establishing a first communication link to one or more servers via a first communication mechanism; while the first communication link is established, the controller operating in a first mode; while the controller operates in the first mode, performing the steps of; the controller receiving a first command from one of said one or more servers via the first communication link; in response to receiving the first command, the controller executing the first command; in response to detecting a failure of the first communication link, the controller transitioning to a second mode; while the controller operates in the second mode, performing at least one of the steps of; (a) the controller executing one or more stored sets of instructions for operating in the second mode until the controller re-establishes the first communication link, wherein the one or more stored sets of instructions have been received from at least one of said one or more servers;
or(b) the controller establishing a second communication link to the one or more servers via a second communication mechanism, wherein the second communication mechanism is of a different type than the first communication mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A controller comprising:
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a control unit for performing actions; a primary communication mechanism for establishing a primary connection to one or more servers and for receiving data via said primary connection, said data including commands; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for causing said controller to operate in a first mode while said primary connection is established; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for, while operating in the first mode, causing the control unit to perform actions in response to receiving said commands via said primary connection; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for detecting a failure in said primary connection; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for transitioning the controller to a second mode; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for, while operating in said second mode, causing the controller to perform at least one of the steps of; (a) executing one or more stored sets of instructions for operating in the second mode until the controller re-establishes the primary connection, wherein the one or more stored sets of instructions have been received from at least one of said one or more servers;
or(b) establishing a backup connection to the one or more servers via a backup communication mechanism, wherein the backup communication mechanism is of a different type than the primary communication mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A system for controlling irrigation, the system comprising:
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one or more servers for coordinating irrigation activity amongst a plurality of controllers, said one or more servers being configured to send commands for controlling irrigation to said plurality of controllers; a gateway connected to said one or more servers via a first network; said plurality of controllers, each of said plurality of controllers being connected to said gateway via a wireless mesh network different from said first network, each particular controller of said plurality of controllers comprising at least; a control unit for performing actions for controlling irrigation; one or more sensors for collecting weather-related sensor data; a primary communication mechanism for establishing a primary connection to said one or more servers over said wireless mesh network, for receiving data via said primary connection, said data including irrigation commands, and for sending said sensor data from said one or more sensors; a storage mechanism for storing instructions for controlling irrigation; logic, operatively coupled to said control unit, for causing said control unit to perform actions for controlling irrigation in response to receiving said irrigation commands or in response to executing said instructions stored in the storage mechanism; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for detecting a failure in said primary connection; logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for determining one or more steps to take after said failure, wherein said one or more steps include at least one of; (a) executing one or more sets of instructions stored in said storage mechanism until said primary connection can be re-established, said one or more sets of instructions having been generated by a particular server of the one or more servers to represent the particular server'"'"'s logic for determining, based on said sensor data, which particular commands to send to the particular controller and when to send said particular commands; (b) establishing a backup connection to said one or more servers via a backup communication mechanism.
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Specification