SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURING NODE BEHAVIOR IN A SENSOR NETWORK

• US 20110231533A1
• Filed: 05/24/2011
• Published: 09/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synapse Wireless Incorporated (Mcwane Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Synapse Wireless Incorporated (Mcwane Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ewing, David B., Martindale, Rick A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,204,971 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 21/00 Measuring or testing not otherwise provided for
• 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

Abstract

The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods for controlling sensor networks. A sensor network has a plurality of sensor nodes, which have sensors for monitoring operational parameters of devices within an application-specific system. A wireless communication module is provided for each node to enable the node to wirelessly communicate with other nodes of the network. A user defines various scripts for controlling the behavior of one or more nodes, and the network distributes the scripts, as appropriate, to various nodes thereby implementing the behavior defined by the scripts. Accordingly, a user can easily and dynamically configure or re-configure the behavior of any node without having to physically access the node that is being configured or re-configured.

Claims

1. A wireless sensor network, comprising:

a first node configured to receive at least one script defining a new behavior for the network, the first node configured to wirelessly transmit the at least one script via the network; and

a sensor node configured to store event data and to receive the at least one script transmitted by the first node, the sensor node having a sensor for detecting an operational parameter of a device, wherein the sensor node via execution of the at least one script is configured to update the event data to indicate that the at least one script is to be invoked if the operational parameter exceeds a threshold, the sensor node further configured to compare the operational parameter to the threshold and to invoke the at least one script based on the event data when the threshold is exceeded by the operational parameter.

2. The network of claim 1, wherein the first node has a printed circuit board (PCB) and a wireless communication module plugged into the PCB, wherein logic residing on the PCB is configured to receive at least one user message defined by user input and comprising the at least one script, wherein the logic is configured to transmit the at least one user message to the wireless communication module, the wireless communication module having an antenna and a protocol stack, the protocol stack configured to receive the at least one user message and to convert the at least one user message into at least one network message compatible with the network, the protocol stack further configured to wirelessly transmit the at least one script via the at least one network message via the antenna.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein running of the at least one script on the sensor node causes the sensor node to control an operational state of the device.

4. The network of claim 1, wherein running of the at least script on the sensor node causes the sensor node to wirelessly transmit a notification to the first node.

5. A method for dynamically changing node behavior for a wireless sensor network, comprising the steps of:

receiving at a first node at least one script defining a new behavior for the network;

wirelessly transmitting the at least one script via the network to a sensor node;

storing event data in the sensor node;

detecting an operational parameter of a device via a sensor of the sensor node;

updating the event data via execution of the at least one script by the sensor node such that the event data indicates that the at least one script is to be invoked if the operational parameter exceeds a threshold;

comparing the operational parameter to the threshold; and

invoking the at least one script based on the event data when the threshold is exceeded by the operational parameter.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first node has a printed circuit board (PCB) and a wireless communication module plugged into the PCB, wherein the wireless communication module has a protocol stack and an antenna, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

receiving at least one user message defined by user input and comprising the at least one script;

transmitting the at least one user message from the PCB to the wireless communication module;

converting the at least one user message into at least one network message compatible with the network; and

wirelessly transmitting the at least one script via the at least one network message using the antenna.