SENSOR NETWORK INFORMATION COLLECTION VIA MOBILE GATEWAY

• US 20140355524A1
• Filed: 08/13/2014
• Published: 12/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Li, Zhenhong, Wang, Haifeng, Xia, Jun, Miao, Yi
• Granted Patent: US 9,313,828 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• 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 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/12 using signalling between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/005 Routing actions in the presence of nodes in sleep or doze mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/32 for defining a routing cluster membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/20 Master-slave selection or change arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

There is provided a sensor network information collection mechanism in which, after a UE has decided to become part of an information collecting operation for collecting information from a local sensor network, a signaling transmitted from a managing node of a local sensor network is received and processed. A communication network control element is informed about the willingness to become an information collector by sending a report message comprising measurement results derived from the signaling received from the managing node of the local sensor network. When receiving a gateway allocation message indicating that the UE is determined to be a gateway element to the local sensor network, the information collecting operation is started wherein sensor nodes of the local sensor network are woke up, and a traffic flow direction in the local sensor network is set in accordance with the managing node identity to which the UE is accessed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

transmitting, from a communication network sink, a message to at least one mobile equipment requesting information regarding availability as a gateway to a sensor network;

receiving, at the sink from a first one of the at least one mobile equipment, information relating to an availability of the first mobile equipment as a gateway to the sensor network via an identified first cluster head node;

transmitting, from the sink, a notice of gateway status to the first mobile equipment; and

receiving, at the sink from the first mobile equipment, sensor information from the sensor network routed through the first cluster head node.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the sink from a second one of the at least one mobile equipment, information relating to an availability of the second mobile equipment as a gateway to the sensor network via an identified second cluster head node;

transmitting from the sink a notice of gateway status to the second mobile equipment; and

receiving, at the sink from the second mobile equipment, sensor information from the sensor network routed through the second cluster head node.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sensor information routed through the second cluster head node is different than the sensor information routed through the first cluster head node.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the sink from a second one of the at least one mobile equipment, information relating to an availability of the second mobile equipment as a gateway to the sensor network via an identified second cluster head node; and

determining that the second mobile equipment is not a suitable gateway.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information received at the sink relating to the availability of the first mobile equipment includes at least one of synchronization information, signal strength information, properties of the first cluster head node, capabilities of the first cluster head node, and energy available for transmission.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining, from the information received at the sink relating to the availability of the first mobile equipment, a suitability of the first mobile equipment as a gateway; and

assigning a gateway status to the first mobile equipment.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a suitability of the first mobile equipment as a gateway based on at least one of;

signaling quality between the first mobile equipment and the first cluster head node;

the capability of the mobile equipment;

the connection between the sink and the mobile equipment; and

the capability of the first cluster head node.

8. A mobile equipment, comprising:

a communication interface;

a memory including processor-readable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the processor-readable instructions from the memory, the instructions including instructions to;

communicate with a communication network control element via the communication interface;

receive from the control element a request to provide availability as a gateway to a sensor network;

detect beacon signals emitted from at least one cluster head node of a sensor network;

determine information regarding availability as a gateway for a first one of the at least one cluster head node based at least in part on the detected beacon signals;

transmit the information regarding availability to the control element;

receive from the control element a status indicator indicating an allocation of status as a gateway for the first one of the at least one cluster head node; and

inform the sensor network of an updated network topology including identification of the first one of the at least one cluster head node.

9. The mobile equipment of claim 8, the instructions further including instructions to

collect sensor data information from the first one of the at least one cluster head node;

and

transmit the sensor data information to the control element.

10. The mobile equipment of claim 8, wherein the at least one cluster head node is a plurality of cluster head nodes, and wherein the instructions to determine information regarding availability as a gateway include instructions to determine from the beacon signals the first one of the plurality of cluster head nodes based on measurements of received signal strength of the plurality of cluster head nodes.

11. The mobile equipment of claim 8, wherein the at least one cluster head node is a plurality of cluster head nodes, and wherein the instructions to determine information regarding availability as a gateway include instructions to determine from the beacon signals the first one of the plurality of cluster head nodes based on properties or capabilities of the plurality of cluster head nodes.

12. The mobile equipment of claim 8, wherein the at least one cluster head node is a plurality of cluster head nodes, and wherein the instructions to determine information regarding availability as a gateway include instructions to determine from the beacon signals the first one of the plurality of cluster head nodes based on remaining energy of each of the plurality of cluster head nodes.

13. The mobile equipment of claim 8, wherein the instructions to transmit information regarding availability as a gateway include instructions to transmit measurements of received signal strength and remaining energy of the first one of the plurality of cluster head nodes, and to transmit measurements of remaining energy of the mobile equipment.

14. The mobile equipment of claim 8, wherein the instructions to transmit information regarding availability as a gateway include instructions to transmit properties and capabilities of the first one of the plurality of cluster head nodes.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory including processor-readable instructions;

an input/output unit configured for communication within a sensor network; and

a processor configured to execute the processor-readable instructions, the instructions including instructions to;

receive a wakeup message via the input/output unit;

cause an awakening from an idle mode;

receive an identification of a first sensor node in the sensor network that is an allocated cluster head node;

identify a set of at least one node in the sensor network, wherein each node in the set is currently allocated as a cluster head node, and the set includes the first sensor node;

determine from a lookup table a selected neighbor node according to the set of at least one node allocated as a cluster head node; and

route traffic flow to the determined neighbor node.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions further include instructions to recognize the identification of the first sensor node as an allocation of the apparatus as a cluster head node.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions further include instructions to transmit a waken message via the input/output unit to the sensor network.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions further include instructions to transmit the identification of the cluster head node via the input/output unit to the sensor network.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions further include instructions to receive sensor data information from at least one node in the sensor network via the input/output unit.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the input/output unit is further configured for communication within a communication network, and wherein the instructions further include instructions to establish communication with a mobile device in the communication network via the input/output unit, and transmit to the mobile device information related to data received from the sensor network.