Situation-driven spontaneous networking

• US 9,037,728 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2011
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bai, Kun, Bantz, David F., Chefalas, Thomas E., Liu, Leslie S., Mastrianni, Steven J., Moulic, James R., Shea, Dennis G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Srivastava, Vivek
• Assistant Examiner(s): Raza, Muhammad A
• Application Number:
  US13/045,957
• Publication Number:
  US 20120233336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,530 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227, 704/239, 702/188, 702/189, 348/E5.037, 367/127, 455/11.1, 455/13.1, 455/41.2, 701/45
• US Class Current: 709/227
• 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

Abstract

In an exemplary embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes, in an electronic device, forming a hypothesis that a situation exists based on one or more situation definitions and data from one or more sensors accessible by the electronic device. The method includes searching for other electronic devices via one or more network interfaces in the electronic device and establishing a network with one or more other electronic devices found during the searching. The method also includes receiving information from the one or more other electronic devices, the information corresponding to the situation. The method further includes, based at least on the information, modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists. Apparatus and computer readable memory media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

forming a hypothesis to explain an event detected by a sensor, in a mobile electronic device having at least one sensor associated therewith and accessible thereto, that a situation exists based on at least one situation definition and data from said at least one sensor, said at least one situation definition being selected from a store of hypothesis templates in said mobile electronic device and responsive to said data from said at least one sensor, said hypothesis templates relating said data from at least one sensor to possible causes;

searching by the mobile electronic device for other mobile electronic devices to gather additional information related to said hypothesis via one or more network interfaces in the mobile electronic device;

establishing a spontaneous mobile network with at least one other mobile electronic device found during the searching, said spontaneous mobile network being established when the mobile electronic device contacts the at least one other mobile electronic device at least having a sensor for detecting the event;

communicating directly with the at least one other mobile electronic device in the spontaneous mobile network to request the additional information applicable to said hypothesis;

receiving by the mobile electronic device the additional information from the at least one other mobile electronic device, the additional information corresponding to the situation; and

based at least on the received additional information, modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists,

wherein the at least one situation definition comprises;

one or more rules, each rule relating one or more of the at least one sensor to one or more value criteria, each of the one or more rules being triggered when one or more of the at least one sensor provides data meeting a preselected value criterion; and

one or more templates, each template relating one or more of the rules to a weight to be applied to a corresponding rule, and

wherein modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists further comprises;

determining whether, for each of the one or more rules, one or more values of a corresponding sensor meet corresponding value criteria, wherein the one or more values include any received additional information corresponding to values of a sensor and any values of a corresponding sensor accessible by the mobile electronic device;

when the received additional information corresponds to a rule, modifying weights corresponding to the rule wherein weights are increased in response to a situation corresponding to the rule being more probable and are decreased in response to the corresponding situation being less probable;

for each template, for the rules in the template meeting the corresponding value criteria, applying corresponding weights to the rules and determining from the corresponding weights a value for the template;

when the received additional information corresponds to the hypothesis, modifying values for templates corresponding to the hypothesis to increase values for the hypothesis being more probable according to the received additional information and to decrease values for the hypothesis being less probable per the received additional information; and

in response to a value of any of the templates meeting a threshold value, forming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the situation corresponds to a template meeting the threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing one or more actions based on the modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists further comprises performing a likelihood analysis based on one or more of the received additional information, the at least one situation definition, and the data from the at least one sensor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the likelihood analysis determines one of the following:

confirming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the hypothesis is deemed sufficiently probable;

denying the hypothesis that the situation exists because the hypothesis is deemed sufficiently improbable;

or

refining the hypothesis that the situation exists because a refined hypothesis is deemed more probable as determined by the likelihood analysis than is an original hypothesis.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the establishing of the spontaneous mobile network is limited to those other mobile electronic devices found during the searching that are determined to meet a predetermined criterion.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein forming a hypothesis that a situation exists further comprises:

determining whether, for each of the one or more rules, one or more values of a corresponding sensor meet corresponding value criteria;

for each template, for the rules in the template meeting the corresponding value criteria, applying corresponding weights to the rules and determining from the corresponding weights a value for the template;

in response to a value of any of the templates meeting a threshold value, forming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the situation corresponds to a template meeting the threshold value.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

forming a hypothesis that a situation exists further comprises forming a plurality of hypotheses, each of the hypotheses being that a corresponding situation exists;

receiving additional information further comprises receiving additional information from the at least one other mobile electronic device, the additional information corresponding to one or more of the plurality of situations; and

based at least on the additional information, for each of one or more hypotheses corresponding to the one or more situations, modifying the hypothesis that the corresponding situation exists.

8. A mobile electronic device comprising:

one or more network interfaces for bidirectional communication;

one or more memories comprising computer readable program code; and

one or more processors, the one or more processors configured, in response to execution of the computer readable program code, to cause the mobile electronic device to perform the following;

forming a hypothesis to explain an event detected by a sensor that a situation exists based on at least one situation definition and data from said at least one sensor associated with and accessible by said mobile electronic device, said at least one situation definition being selected from a store of hypothesis templates in said mobile electronic device responsive to said data from said at least one sensor, said hypothesis templates relating said data from at least one sensor to possible causes;

searching for other mobile electronic devices to gather additional information related to said hypothesis via the one or more network interfaces;

establishing a spontaneous mobile network with at least one other mobile electronic device found during the searching, said spontaneous mobile network being established when the mobile electronic device contacts the at least one other mobile electronic device at least having a sensor for detecting the event;

communicating directly with the at least one other mobile electronic device in the spontaneous mobile network to request the additional information applicable to said hypothesis;

receiving the additional information via the one or more network interfaces from the at least one other mobile electronic device, the additional information corresponding to the situation; and

based at least on the received additional information, modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists,

wherein the at least one situation definition comprises;

one or more rules, each rule relating one or more of the at least one sensor to one or more value criteria, each of the one or more rules being triggered when one or more of the at least one sensor provides data meeting a preselected value criterion; and

one or more templates, each template relating one or more of the rules to a weight to be applied to a corresponding rule, and

wherein modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists further comprises;

determining whether, for each of the one or more rules, one or more values of a corresponding sensor meet corresponding value criteria, wherein the one or more values include any received additional information corresponding to values of a sensor and any values of a corresponding sensor accessible by the mobile electronic device;

when the received additional information corresponds to a rule, modifying weights corresponding to the rule wherein weights are increased in response to a situation corresponding to the rule being more probable and are decreased in response to the corresponding situation being less probable;

for each template, for the rules in the template meeting the corresponding value criteria, applying corresponding weights to the rules and determining from the corresponding weights a value for the template;

when the received additional information corresponds to the hypothesis, modifying values for templates corresponding to the hypothesis to increase values for the hypothesis being more probable according to the received additional information and to decrease values for the hypothesis being less probable per the received additional information; and

in response to a value of any of the templates meeting a threshold value, forming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the situation corresponds to a template meeting the threshold value.

9. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are further configured, in response to execution of the computer readable program code, to cause the mobile electronic device to perform the following:

performing one or more actions based on the modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists.

10. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein:

modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists further comprises performing a likelihood analysis based on one or more of the received additional information, the at least one situation definition, and the data from the at least one sensor.

11. The mobile electronic device of claim 10, wherein the likelihood analysis determines one of the following:

confirming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the hypothesis is deemed sufficiently probable;

denying the hypothesis that the situation exists because the hypothesis is deemed sufficiently improbable;

or

refining the hypothesis that the situation exists because a refined hypothesis is deemed more probable as determined by the likelihood analysis than is an original hypothesis.

12. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein:

the establishing of the spontaneous mobile network is limited to those other mobile electronic devices found during the searching that are determined to meet a predetermined criterion.

13. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein forming a hypothesis that a situation exists further comprises:

determining whether, for each of the one or more rules, one or more values of a corresponding sensor meet corresponding value criteria;

for each template, for the rules in the template meeting the corresponding value criteria, applying corresponding weights to the rules and determining from the corresponding weights a value for the template;

in response to a value of any of the templates meeting a threshold value, forming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the situation corresponds to a template meeting the threshold value.

14. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein:

forming a hypothesis that a situation exists further comprises forming a plurality of hypotheses, each of the hypotheses being that a corresponding situation exists;

receiving additional information further comprises receiving additional information from the at least one other mobile electronic device, the additional information corresponding to one or more of the plurality of situations; and

based at least on the additional information, for each of one or more hypotheses corresponding to the one or more situations, modifying the hypothesis that the corresponding situation exists.

15. A non-transitory computer readable memory medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by one or more processors of a mobile electronic device, said mobile electronic device having at least one sensor associated therewith, said at least one sensor being accessible by said mobile electronic device, causes the mobile electronic device to perform at least the following:

forming a hypothesis to explain an event detected by a sensor that a situation exists based on at least one situation definition and data from said at least one sensor, said at least one situation definition being selected from a store of hypothesis templates in said mobile electronic device responsive to said data from said at least one sensor, said hypothesis templates relating said data from at least one sensor to possible causes;

searching for other mobile electronic devices to gather additional information related to said hypothesis via the one or more network interfaces;

establishing a spontaneous mobile network with at least one other mobile electronic device found during the searching, said spontaneous mobile network being established when the mobile electronic device contacts the at least one other mobile electronic device at least having a sensor for detecting the event;

communicating directly with the at least one other mobile electronic device in the spontaneous mobile network to request the additional information applicable to said hypothesis;

receiving the additional information via the one or more network interfaces from the at least one other mobile electronic device, the additional information corresponding to the situation; and

based at least on the received additional information, modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists,

wherein the at least one situation definition comprises;

one or more rules, each rule relating one or more of the at least one sensors to one or more value criteria, each of the one or more rules being triggered when one or more of the at least one sensor provides data meeting a preselected value criterion; and

one or more templates, each template relating one or more of the rules to a weight to be applied to a corresponding rule, and

wherein modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists further comprises;

determining whether, for each of the one or more rules, one or more values of a corresponding sensor meet corresponding value criteria, wherein the one or more values include any received additional information corresponding to values of a sensor and any values of a corresponding sensor accessible by the mobile electronic device;

when the received additional information corresponds to a rule, modifying weights corresponding to the rule wherein weights are increased in response to a situation corresponding to the rule being more probable and are decreased in response to the corresponding situation being less probable;

for each template, for the rules in the template meeting the corresponding value criteria, applying corresponding weights to the rules and determining from the corresponding weights a value for the template;

when the received additional information corresponds to the hypothesis, modifying values for templates corresponding to the hypothesis to increase values for the hypothesis being more probable according to the received additional information and to decrease values for the hypothesis being less probable per the received additional information; and

in response to a value of any of the templates meeting a threshold value, forming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the situation corresponds to a template meeting the threshold value.

16. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 15, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured, when executed by the one or more processors of the mobile electronic device, causes the mobile electronic device to perform at least the following:

performing one or more actions based on the modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists.

17. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 15, wherein:

modifying the hypothesis that the situation exists further comprises performing a likelihood analysis based on one or more of the received additional information, the at least one situation definition, and the data from the at least one sensor.

18. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 17, wherein the likelihood analysis determines one of the following:

confirming the hypothesis that the situation exists because the hypothesis is deemed sufficiently probable;

denying the hypothesis that the situation exists because the hypothesis is deemed sufficiently improbable;

or

refining the hypothesis that the situation exists because a refined hypothesis is deemed more probable as determined by the likelihood analysis than is an original hypothesis.

19. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 15, wherein:

the establishing of the spontaneous mobile network is limited to those other mobile electronic devices found during the searching that are determined to meet a predetermined criterion.

20. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 15, wherein:

forming a hypothesis that a situation exists further comprises forming a plurality of hypotheses, each of the hypotheses being that a corresponding situation exists;

receiving additional information further comprises receiving additional information from the at least one other mobile electronic device, the additional information corresponding to one or more of the plurality of situations; and

based at least on the additional information, for each of one or more hypotheses corresponding to the one or more situations, modifying the hypothesis that the corresponding situation exists.