Security system network
First Claim
1. A security network having a plurality of nodes for monitoring a plurality of sensors, comprising:
- a plurality of transponder nodes, each transponder node includingmeans for receiving signals from a plurality of said sensors,programmable processing means for producing a data transmission responsive to said sensor signals and program instructions,means for receiving from and transmitting said data transmissions to other nodes;
a plurality of gateway nodes, each gateway node includingmeans for receiving from and transmitting to a plurality of said transponder nodes and other gateway nodes,processing means for analyzing an address portion of said data transmissions and routing said data transmissions to an appropriate recipient.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention uniquely applies data communications network techniques to a security system. A series of slave transponders are coupled via a full duplex bus to a master node. The master node is coupled to other master nodes to form a network. The master node periodically polls its slave transponders to authenticate them. Each transponder has processing capability to give a distributed processing system. Each master node is a gateway which directs transmissions to the appropriate end point. The system uses an accordion-like protocol which can have fields added or deleted in a specific structure to conform the protocol to the particular message being transmitted. The protocol begins with address bytes indentifying the destination followed by a control field which identifies the fields which are present. For a broadcast, rather than a point-to-point transmission, a process ID field in the protocol determines what area or function has to be addressed in all units. This area or function can be addressed for a large number of nodes by using this protocol field. The protocol is data transparent, it will handle any type of data. A sequence field allows the protocol to simultaneously handle redundant and non-redundant lines. The protocol allows point-to-point encryption of data and can operate over any media, electrical, optical RF, etc. The routing algorithm includes an authentication byte attached by a particular transponder node and authenticated by a bus master connected to that node. The bus master substitutes its own authentication byte and sends the transmission along to the next point, where the authentication process is repeated. This allows authentication without requiring decrypting and re-encrypting of the transmission at each intermediate point.
218 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A security network having a plurality of nodes for monitoring a plurality of sensors, comprising:
-
a plurality of transponder nodes, each transponder node including means for receiving signals from a plurality of said sensors, programmable processing means for producing a data transmission responsive to said sensor signals and program instructions, means for receiving from and transmitting said data transmissions to other nodes; a plurality of gateway nodes, each gateway node including means for receiving from and transmitting to a plurality of said transponder nodes and other gateway nodes, processing means for analyzing an address portion of said data transmissions and routing said data transmissions to an appropriate recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17)
-
-
14. A security network having a plurality of nodes for monitoring a plurality of sensors, comprising:
-
a plurality of transponder nodes, each transponder node including means for receiving signals from a plurality of said sensors, programmable processing means for producing a data transmission responsive to said sensor signals and program instructions, means for receiving from and transmitting said data transmissions to other nodes; a plurality of gateway nodes, each gateway node including means for receiving from and transmitting to a plurality of said transponders and other gateways, processing means for analyzing an address portion of said data transmissions and routing said data transmissions to an appropriate recipient; each said data transmission being a packet having types and numbers of fields according to a predetermined protocol which may vary from transmission to transmission, including at least a destination address field and a control field setting forth the types and number of fields present, said destination address being a first field in said packet and said control field being a next field in said packet, a last field of said packet being an authentication byte for identifying a sender of said packet to a receiver of said packet.
-
-
15. A security network having a plurality of nodes for monitoring a plurality of sensors, comprising:
-
a plurality of transponder nodes, each transponder node including means for receiving signals from a plurality of said sensors, programmable processing means for producing a data transmission responsive to said sensor signals and program instructions, means for receiving from and transmitting said data transmissions to other nodes; a plurality of gateway nodes, each gateway node including means for receiving from and transmitting to a plurality of said transponders and other gateways, processing means for analyzing an address portion of said data transmissions and routing said data transmissions to an appropriate recipient; each said data transmission being a packet having types and numbers of fields according to a predetermined protocol which may vary from transmission to transmission, including at least a destination address field and a control field setting forth the types and number of fields present, said field types including a data field and a process identification field, said process identification field selecting a process in each node to which said transmission is directed; each node including means for encrypting said data field and said process identification field and means for decrypting; wherein distributed processing is used such that a plurality of said gateways include means for analyzing a sensor alarm condition from one of said transponders and generating an appropriate response; a plurality of said gateway nodes being each coupled via a first port to a plurality of said transponder nodes, said gateway including means for polling said transponder nodes to receive transmissions, and said plurality of gateway nodes each having a second port coupled to another gateway or a controller for providing transmission in response to polling by said another gateway or controller.
-
Specification