Method and apparatus for multi-waveform wireless sensor network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A scaleable wireless sensor network, comprising:
- a plurality of multi-waveform sensor nodes that include wireless radio and sensors to detect and track events;
at least one wireless local area network using at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically;
a gateway node operationally connected to said at least one wireless local area network; and
an operations center connected to said gateway node using at least one standard wide area network protocol.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for a multi-waveform wireless sensor network based on widely distributed sensor nodes operating in wireless local area networks and gateway connection to an operations center via wide area network protocol. The scaleable network consists of a tiered structure of sensor nodes within wireless local area networks using an ad hoc protocol to form the network and at least one gateway node within each LAN to provide a link to an operations center. The sensor network can be used to detect and track Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high-yield Explosive events.
185 Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A scaleable wireless sensor network, comprising:
-
a plurality of multi-waveform sensor nodes that include wireless radio and sensors to detect and track events; at least one wireless local area network using at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; a gateway node operationally connected to said at least one wireless local area network; and an operations center connected to said gateway node using at least one standard wide area network protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A scaleable wireless sensor network, comprising:
- a plurality of multi-waveform sensor nodes that detect and track events;
at least one wireless local area network using at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes;
a gateway node operationally connected to said at least one wireless local area network; and
an operations center operationally connected to said gateway node using at least one standard wide area network protocol; and
said plurality of sensor nodes further comprises at least one reduced function model, and at least one full function node; andwherein said plurality of sensor nodes further comprises at least one mobile sweeper node having gateway node capability that registers with and passes data to the at least one full function node.
- a plurality of multi-waveform sensor nodes that detect and track events;
-
8. A hierarchical wireless local area sensor node subnetwork, comprising:
-
at least one wireless local area network configured in at least one hierarchical layer having at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; at least one sensor node selected from the group consisting of a full function node and a reduced function node; and at least one gateway node for interfacing by at least one of wireless communication or wireline communication between the at least one subnetwork and the at least one decision-making authority.
-
-
9. A gateway node comprising:
-
at least two wideband transceivers for transmitting and receiving data over a medium;
a sensor interface for controlling and acquiring sensor inputs;at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; a software defined radio operably connected to the sensor interface for receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data and electronically connected to the at least two wideband transceivers for sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and a power interface for providing power to the at least two transceivers, the sensor interface and the software radio. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
-
11. A gateway node comprising:
- at least two wideband transceivers for transmitting and receiving data over a medium;
a sensor interface for controlling and acquiring sensor inputs resulting from events;
a software defined radio operably connected to the sensor interface for receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data and electronically connected to the at least two wideband transceivers for sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and
a power interface for providing power to the at least two transceivers, the sensor interface and the software radio;wherein said software defined radio further comprises;
a digital signal processor operably connected to the sensor interface for processing and digitizing the acquired sensor input; and
a general purpose processor operably interfaced to;
the sensor interface for controlling acquisition of sensor input from the sensor interface, the digital signal processor for controlling processing of the sensor input, the at least two transceivers for transmission of the processed and digitized sensor data and receipt and transmission of processing and digitized sensor data from another node, and the power interface for control thereof; andwherein said general purpose processor further comprises;
core node stack software;
LAN waveform software; and
WAN waveform software. - View Dependent Claims (12)
- at least two wideband transceivers for transmitting and receiving data over a medium;
-
13. A full function node, comprising:
-
a wideband transceiver for transmitting and receiving data over a medium;
a sensor interface for controlling and acquiring sensor inputs;at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; a software defined radio operably connected to the sensor interface for receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data and electronically connected to the wideband transceiver for sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and
a power interface for providing power to the transceiver, the sensor interface and the software radio. - View Dependent Claims (14)
-
-
15. A full function node, comprising:
- a wideband transceiver for transmitting and receiving data over a medium;
a sensor interface for controlling and acquiring sensor inputs resulting from events;
a software defined radio operably connected to the sensor interface for receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data and electronically connected to the wideband transceiver for sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and
a power interface for providing power to the transceiver, the sensor interface and the software radio;wherein said software-defined radio further comprises a digital signal processor operably connected to the sensor interface for processing and digitizing the acquired sensor input; and
a general purpose processor operably interfaced to;
the sensor interface for controlling acquisition of sensor input from the sensor interface, the digital signal processor for controlling processing of the sensor input, the transceiver for transmission of the processed and digitized sensor data and receipt and transmission of processing and digitized sensor data from another node, and the power interface for control thereof; andwherein said general purpose processor further comprises core node stack software; and
LAN waveform software. - View Dependent Claims (16)
- a wideband transceiver for transmitting and receiving data over a medium;
-
17. A reduced function node, comprising:
-
a wideband transceiver having a size less than 7 cubic inches and less than 3 watts in transmit power consumption; at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; a sensor interface for controlling and acquiring sensor inputs; a software defined radio operably connected to the sensor interface for receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data and electronically connected to the wideband transceiver for sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and
a battery power interface for providing power to the transceiver, the sensor interface and the software radio. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
-
-
20. A reduced function node, comprising:
- a wideband transceiver having a size less than 7 cubic inches and less than 3 watts in transmit power consumption;
a sensor interface for controlling and acquiring sensor inputs resulting from events;
a software defined radio operably connected to the sensor interface for receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data and electronically connected to the wideband transceiver for sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and
a battery power interface for providing power to the transceiver, the sensor interface and the software radio;wherein said general purpose processor further comprises;
core node stack software; and
LAN waveform software.
- a wideband transceiver having a size less than 7 cubic inches and less than 3 watts in transmit power consumption;
-
21. A method for a scaleable wireless sensor network, comprising the steps of:
-
interconnecting said plurality of sensor nodes using at least one WLAN and at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; connecting a gateway node to said at least one WLAN; and
connecting an operations center to said gateway node using at least one standard wide area network (WAN) protocol. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A method for a scaleable wireless sensor network, comprising the steps of:
-
detecting and tracking events with a plurality of multi-waveform sensor nodes;
interconnecting said plurality of sensor nodes using at least one WLAN;
connecting a gateway node to said at least one WLAN; and
connecting an operations center to said gateway node using at least one standard wide area network (WAN) protocol;wherein said plurality of sensor nodes further comprises at least one reduced function node, and at least one full function node; and wherein said plurality of sensor nodes further comprises at least one mobile sweeper node having gateway node capability; and
said at least one mobile sweeper node performing the steps of;
registering with said at least one full function node, and passing data to said at least one full function node.
-
-
28. A method for an hierarchical wireless local area sensor node network, comprising the steps of:
-
providing at least one wireless local area network (WLAN) having at least one sensor node selected from the group consisting of a full function node and a reduced function node; configuring the at least one WLAN in at least one hierarchical layer comprising the at least one sensor; and interfacing at least one gateway node by at least one of wireless communication or wireline communication between the at least one hierarchical layer and the at least one decision-making authority.
-
-
29. A method for a gateway node, comprising the steps of:
-
providing at least two wideband transceivers for transmitting and receiving data over a medium; providing at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; providing a sensor interface to perform the steps of controlling and acquiring sensor inputs; operably connecting a software defined radio to the sensor interface to perform the steps of receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data;
electronically-connecting the software defined radio to the at least two wideband transceivers to perform the steps of sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; andproviding a power interface for powering the at least two transceivers, the sensor interface and the software radio.
-
-
30. A method for a full function node, comprising the steps of:
-
providing a wideband transceiver for transmitting and receiving data over a medium; providing at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; providing a sensor interface for performing the steps of controlling and acquiring sensor inputs; operably connecting a software defined radio to the sensor interface for performing the steps of receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data; electronically connecting the software defined radio to the wideband transceiver for performing the steps of sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and providing a power interface powering the transceiver, the sensor interface and the software radio.
-
-
31. A method for a reduced function node, comprising the steps of:
-
providing a wideband transceiver having a size less than less 7 cubic inches and less than 3 watts in transmit power consumption; providing a wideband transceiver for transmitting and receiving data over a medium; providing at least one of a commercial and a proprietary ad hoc link and routing protocol that operationally connects said plurality of sensor nodes automatically; including a sensor interface controlling and acquiring sensor inputs; operably connecting a software defined radio to the sensor interface for performing the steps of receiving, processing and digitizing sensor input data; electronically connecting the software defined radio to the wideband transceiver for performing the steps of sending and receiving processed and digitized sensor data; and a battery power interface powering the transceiver, the sensor interface and the software radio.
-
Specification