Aggregating sensor data

• US 9,225,793 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2011
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dutta, Debojyoti, Sen, Mainak, Pandey, Manoj Kumar, Banka, Tarun, Balakrishnan, Raja Suresh Krishna
• Primary Examiner(s): KUDDUS, DANIEL A
• Application Number:
  US13/016,938
• Publication Number:
  US 20120197852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,796 Days
• Field of Search: 707/741, 707/957, 707/959
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

In particular embodiments, a method includes accessing sensor data from sensor nodes in a sensor network and aggregating the sensor data for communication to an indexer in the sensor network. The aggregation of the sensor data includes deduplicating the sensor data; validating the sensor data; formatting the sensor; generating metadata for the sensor data; and time-stamping the sensor data. The metadata identifies one or more pre-determined attributes of the sensor data. The method also includes communicating the aggregated sensor data to the indexer in the sensor network. The indexer is configured to index the aggregated sensor data according to a multi-dimensional array for querying of the aggregated sensor data along with other aggregated sensor data. One or more first ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array include time and one or more second ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional include one or more of the pre-determined sensor-data attributes.

Claims

1. A method comprising, by one or more computer systems:

from an aggregator in a sensor network, accessing a plurality of sensor data from a plurality of sensors in the sensor network;

at the aggregator, aggregating the sensor data from the plurality of sensors for communication to an indexer in the sensor network, the aggregation of the sensor data comprising;

deduplicating the sensor data;

validating the sensor data to block malicious data from reaching the indexer;

formatting the sensor data for processing of the sensor data at the indexer;

generating, based on information in the sensor data, metadata for the sensor data configured for indexing of the sensor data by the indexer, the metadata identifying one or more pre-determined attributes of the sensor data;

appending the metadata to the sensor data; and

time-stamping the sensor data with one or more time stamps; and

from the aggregator, communicating the aggregated sensor data to the indexer in the sensor network, the indexer being configured to index the aggregated sensor data according to a multi-dimensional array for querying of the aggregated sensor data along with a plurality of other aggregated sensor data, one or more first ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising time and one or more second ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising one or more of the pre-determined sensor-data attributes;

wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises;

scanning sensor data being communicated from two or more sensors;

detecting similar sensor data from the two or more sensors;

communicating a control message in the sensor network instructing one or more of the two or more sensors to pause communication of their sensor data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregator comprises a single node in the sensor network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregator comprises multiple nodes in the sensor network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the sensor network comprises a hierarchy of logical levels;

one or more first ones of the multiple nodes logically reside in a first aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy; and

one or more second ones of the multiple nodes logically reside in a second aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy that resides logically above the first aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises one or more searchable keywords related to the sensor data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises one or more searchable tags related to the sensor data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises text generated from at least some of the sensor data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensor data was pushed up to the aggregator.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensor data was pulled up to the aggregator.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregator communicates the aggregated sensor data to the indexer automatically after accessing and aggregating the sensor data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregator communicates the aggregated sensor data to the indexer in response to a query from the indexer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the query requests particular sensor for the indexer; and

the aggregated sensor data that the aggregator communicates to the indexer is responsive to the request.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises application-specific data summarization to remove redundant data from the sensor data.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein validating the sensor data comprises:

determining whether particular sensor data is from a pre-detected malicious or malfunctioning sensor; and

excluding the particular sensor data from the aggregated sensor data in response to determining that the particular sensor data is from a pre-detected malicious or malfunctioning sensor.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more third ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprise geographic location.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting the aggregated sensor data before communicating them to the indexer.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a secure connection with the indexer before communicating the aggregated sensor data to the indexer.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising anonymizing the sensor data.

19. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is configured when executed to:

access, at an aggregator, a plurality of sensor data from a plurality of sensors in a sensor network;

aggregate, at the aggregator, the sensor data from the plurality of sensors for communication to an indexer in the sensor network, the aggregation of the sensor data comprising;

deduplicating the sensor data;

validating the sensor data to block malicious data from reaching the indexer;

formatting the sensor data for processing of the sensor data at the indexer;

generating, based on information in the sensor data, metadata for the sensor data configured for indexing of the sensor data by the indexer, the metadata identifying one or more pre-determined attributes of the sensor data;

appending the metadata to the sensor data; and

time-stamping the sensor data with one or more time stamps; and

communicate, at the aggregator, the aggregated sensor data to the indexer in the sensor network, the indexer being configured to index the aggregated sensor data according to a multi-dimensional array for querying of the aggregated sensor data along with a plurality of other aggregated sensor data, one or more first ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising time and one or more second ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising one or more of the pre-determined sensor-data attributes;

wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises;

scanning sensor data being communicated from two or more sensors;

detecting similar sensor data from the two or more sensors; and

communicating a control message in the sensor network instructing one or more of the two or more sensors to pause communication of their sensor data.

20. The media of claim 19, wherein the media resides at an aggregator that comprises a single node in the sensor network.

21. The media of claim 19, wherein the media resides at an aggregator that comprises multiple nodes in the sensor network.

22. The media of claim 21, wherein:

the sensor network comprises a hierarchy of logical levels;

one or more first ones of the multiple nodes logically reside in a first aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy; and

one or more second ones of the multiple nodes logically reside in a second aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy that resides logically above the first aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy.

23. The media of claim 19, wherein the metadata comprises one or more searchable keywords related to the sensor data.

24. The media of claim 19, wherein the metadata comprises one or more searchable tags related to the sensor data.

25. The media of claim 19, wherein the metadata comprises text generated from at least some of the sensor data.

26. The media of claim 19, wherein:

the media resides at an aggregator; and

the plurality of sensor data was pushed up to the aggregator.

27. The media of claim 19, wherein:

the media resides at an aggregator; and

the plurality of sensor data was pulled up to the aggregator.

28. The media of claim 19, wherein the aggregated sensor data is communicated to the indexer automatically after the aggregated sensor data is accessed and aggregated.

29. The media of claim 19, wherein the aggregated sensor data is communicated to the indexer in response to a query from the indexer.

30. The media of claim 29, wherein:

the query requests particular sensor for the indexer; and

the aggregated sensor data that is communicated to the indexer is responsive to the request.

31. The media of claim 19, wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises application-specific data summarization to remove redundant data from the sensor data.

32. The media of claim 19, wherein validating the sensor data comprises:

determining whether particular sensor data is from a pre-detected malicious or malfunctioning sensor; and

excluding the particular sensor data from the aggregated sensor data in response to determining that the particular sensor data is from a pre-detected malicious or malfunctioning sensor.

33. The media of claim 19, wherein one or more third ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprise geographic location.

34. The media of claim 19, wherein the software is further configured when executed to encrypt the aggregated sensor data before they are communicated to the indexer.

35. The media of claim 19, wherein the software is further configured when executed to establish a secure connection with the indexer before the aggregated sensor data is communicated to the indexer.

36. The media of claim 19, wherein the software is further configured when executed to anonymize the sensor data.

37. An apparatus comprising:

one or more communication interfaces;

one or more memory devices containing one or more instructions for execution by one or more processing devices; and

the processing devices, configured when executing the instructions to;

access a plurality of sensor data from a plurality of sensors in the sensor network;

aggregate the sensor data from the plurality of sensors for communication to an indexer in the sensor network, the aggregation of the sensor data comprising;

deduplicating the sensor data;

validating the sensor data to block malicious data from reaching the indexer;

formatting the sensor data for processing of the sensor data at the indexer;

generating, based on information in the sensor data, metadata for the sensor data configured for indexing of the sensor data by the indexer, the metadata identifying one or more pre-determined attributes of the sensor data;

appending the metadata to the sensor data; and

time-stamping the sensor data with one or more time stamps; and

communicate the aggregated sensor data to the indexer in the sensor network, the indexer being configured to index the aggregated sensor data according to a multi-dimensional array for querying of the aggregated sensor data along with a plurality of other aggregated sensor data, one or more first ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising time and one or more second ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising one or more of the pre-determined sensor-data attributes;

wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises;

scanning sensor data being communicated from two or more sensors;

detecting similar sensor data from the two or more sensors; and

communicating, through the network interface, a control message in the sensor network instructing one or more of the two or more sensors to pause communication of their sensor data.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the apparatus comprises a single node in the sensor network.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the apparatus comprises multiple nodes in the sensor network.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein:

the sensor network comprises a hierarchy of logical levels;

one or more first ones of the multiple nodes logically reside in a first aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy; and

one or more second ones of the multiple nodes logically reside in a second aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy that resides logically above the first aggregation logical layer of the hierarchy.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the metadata comprises one or more searchable keywords related to the sensor data.

42. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the metadata comprises one or more searchable tags related to the sensor data.

43. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the metadata comprises text generated from at least some of the sensor data.

44. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the plurality of sensor data was pushed up to the aggregator.

45. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the plurality of sensor data was pulled up to the aggregator.

46. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the aggregator communicates the aggregated sensor data to the indexer through the network interface automatically after accessing and aggregating the sensor data.

47. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the aggregator communicates the aggregated sensor data to the indexer through the network interface in response to a query from the indexer received through the network interface.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein:

the query requests particular sensor for the indexer; and

the aggregated sensor data that the aggregator communicates to the indexer is responsive to the request.

49. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises application-specific data summarization to remove redundant data from the sensor data.

50. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein validating the sensor data comprises:

determining whether particular sensor data is from a pre-detected malicious or malfunctioning sensor; and

excluding the particular sensor data from the aggregated sensor data in response to determining that the particular sensor data is from a pre-detected malicious or malfunctioning sensor.

51. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein one or more third ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprise geographic location.

52. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising encrypting the aggregated sensor data before communicating them to the indexer.

53. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising establishing a secure connection with the indexer, through the network interface, before communicating the aggregated sensor data to the indexer.

54. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising anonymizing the sensor data.

55. A system comprising:

means for accessing a plurality of sensor data from a plurality of sensors in the sensor network;

means for aggregating the sensor data from the plurality of sensors for communication to an indexer in the sensor network, the means for aggregating including at least one processor, the aggregation of the sensor data comprising;

deduplicating the sensor data;

validating the sensor data to block malicious data from reaching the indexer;

formatting the sensor data for processing of the sensor data at the indexer;

generating metadata for the sensor data configured for indexing of the sensor data by the indexer, the metadata identifying one or more pre-determined attributes of the sensor data; and

time-stamping the sensor data with one or more time stamps; and

means for communicating the aggregated sensor data to the indexer in the sensor network, the indexer being configured to index the aggregated sensor data according to a multi-dimensional array for querying of the aggregated sensor data along with a plurality of other aggregated sensor data, one or more first ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising time and one or more second ones of the dimensions of the multi-dimensional array comprising one or more of the pre-determined sensor-data attributes;

wherein deduplicating the sensor data comprises;

scanning sensor data being communicated from two or more sensors;

detecting similar sensor data from the two or more sensors;

communicating a control message in the sensor network instructing one or more of the two or more sensors to pause communication of their sensor data.