MOBILITY EXTENSIONS TO INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

• US 20170289812A1
• Filed: 06/20/2017
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ICT Research LLC
• Original Assignee: ICT Research LLC
• Inventors: Werb, Jay P.
• Granted Patent: US 11,265,850 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/12 Applying verification of the received information cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for data integrity or data verification H04L9/32
• 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: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/002 Mutual synchronization
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

The present solution, in various embodiments, addresses deficiencies in the prior art by providing systems, methods, and devices that enable industrial wireless sensor network nodes, individually or in clusters, to at least: (i) discover quickly and efficiently wireless neighbors that may come within range periodically and/or infrequently, (ii) communicate temporarily with one another in mobile configurations, (iii) transmit and/or receive information and commands from a source to a destination in delay-tolerant network configurations, and/or (iv) transmit and/or receive information and commands from a source to a destination via a mobile cluster that includes a store-and-forward (S&F) surrogate.

Claims

1. A method for sharing sensor data between a plurality of clusters of wireless devices in which at least one cluster of wireless devices of the plurality of clusters of wireless devices is mobile, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting, by a first cluster of wireless devices of a plurality of clusters of wireless devices, a beacon comprising information identifying the first cluster of wireless devices, the plurality of clusters of wireless devices comprising at least one cluster of wireless devices that is mobile and at least one cluster of wireless devices that stores sensor data;

(b) receiving, by a second cluster of wireless devices of the plurality of clusters of the wireless devices, a beacon from the first cluster of wireless devices;

(c) establishing, by the second cluster responsive to and using the beacon, a time synchronized two way wireless communication with the first cluster; and

(d) receiving, by one of the first cluster or the second cluster via the time synchronized two way wireless communication, sensor data stored at the at least one cluster of wireless devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first cluster has one or more asymmetric beaconing elements located within one of the first cluster or in a predetermined proximity to the first cluster.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the beacon comprises one or more of the following elements:

a network identifier, a cryptographic authentication code, a time synchronization field, a time and frequency schedule of beacons from devices in the first cluster and an extended header.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising scanning, by one of the first cluster or the second cluster, multiple channels simultaneously via a multi-channel receiver.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising extending, by a wireless device of one of the first cluster or the second cluster, a packet wait time responsive to clock drift.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizing, by one of the first cluster or the second cluster, a time source to a remote time reference.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising increasing, by a wireless device of one of the first cluster or the second cluster, a duty cycle in response to an indicator of movement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises identifying, by the second cluster, via cryptographic authentication of the beacon that the second cluster has credentials to access the first cluster.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining, by the second cluster, multiple connections to two or more clusters of wireless devices while the second cluster is in motion along a route.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising using, by the second cluster, a beaconing schedule for connecting to a predetermined set of one or more clusters of wireless devices along a route.

11. A system for sharing sensor data between a plurality of clusters of wireless devices in which at least one cluster of wireless devices of the plurality of clusters of wireless devices is mobile, the system comprising:

a plurality of clusters of wireless devices comprising at least one cluster of wireless devices that is mobile and at least one cluster of wireless devices that stores sensor data;

a first cluster of wireless devices of the plurality of clusters of wireless devices configured to transmit a beacon comprising information identifying the first cluster of wireless devices,

a second cluster of wireless devices of the plurality of clusters of the wireless devices configured to receive the beacon of the first cluster of wireless devices;

wherein the second cluster is configured, responsive to and using the beacon, to establish a time synchronized two way wireless communication with the first cluster; and

wherein one of the first cluster or the second cluster is configured to receive, via the time synchronized two way wireless communication, sensor data stored at the at least one cluster of wireless devices.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first cluster has one or more asymmetric beaconing elements located within one of the first cluster or in a predetermined proximity to the first cluster.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the beacon comprises one or more of the following elements:

a network identifier, a cryptographic authentication code, a time synchronization field, a time and frequency schedule of beacons from devices in the first cluster and an extended header.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein one of the first cluster or the second cluster comprises a multi-channel receiver configured to scan multiple channels simultaneously.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein a wireless device of one of the first cluster or the second cluster is configured to extend a packet wait time responsive to clock drift.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein one of the first cluster or the second cluster is configured to synchronize a time source to a remote time reference.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein a wireless device of one of the first cluster or the second cluster is configured to increase a duty cycle in response to an indicator of movement.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the second cluster is configured to identify via cryptographic authentication of the beacon that the second cluster has credentials to access the first cluster.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the second cluster is configured to maintain multiple connections to two or more clusters of wireless devices while the second cluster is in motion along a route.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the second cluster is configured to use a beaconing schedule for connecting to a predetermined set of one or more clusters of wireless devices along a route.