Ad-hoc wireless sensor package

• US 9,298,945 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2012
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cheatham, Jesse R. III, Dyor, Matthew G., Glaskowsky, Peter N., Hallman, Kimberly D. A., Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K. Y., Koenig, Michael F., Lord, Robert W., Lord, Richard T., Mundie, Craig J., Myhrvold, Nathan P., Petroski, Robert C., Tan, Desney S., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, John H
• Application Number:
  US13/727,117
• Publication Number:
  US 20140180639A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,189 Days
• Field of Search: 702/150, 702/189, 307/23, 320/108, 340/539.13, 340/870.03, 340/5.52, 370/328, 713/186, 726/4, 455/561
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, computer-readable storage mediums including computer-readable instructions and/or circuitry for control of transmission to a target device with communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network may implement operations including, but not limited to: wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more transmission authorization parameters; and powering one or more sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

Claims

1. A method for communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network comprising:

obtaining a location of a sensor activation signal transmitter device;

determining one or more transmission authorization parameters according to a location of the at least one sensor activation signal transmitter device,

wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters.

2. A system comprising:

means for obtaining a location of a sensor activation signal transmitter device;

means for determining one or more transmission authorization parameters according to a location of the at least one sensor activation signal transmitter device; and

means for wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters.

3. A system comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a location of a sensor activation signal transmitter device;

circuitry for determining one or more transmission authorization parameters according to a location of the at least one sensor activation signal transmitter device; and

circuitry for wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more transmission authorization parameters associated with one or more governmental regulations.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more transmission authorization parameters associated with one or more governmental regulations includes:

wirelessly transmitting at least one of a visible-light sensor operation activation signal, an infrared signal, or an ultraviolet signal to one or more sensors.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more transmission authorization parameters associated with one or more governmental regulations includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more locations of one or more sensor monitoring devices.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to a programmed schedule.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more external control signals.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more external control signals received from at least one external device.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one or more external control signals received from one or more switches.

11. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according one or more sensor signals indicative of a presence or absence of one or more objects within the portion of a region including at least one sensor.

12. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters in a substantially continuous manner during sensor operation.

13. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters at least partially intermittently during sensor operation.

14. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of a one or more sensors includes:

powering one or more thermal sensing operations of one or more sensors.

15. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors includes:

powering one or more pressure sensing operations of one or more sensors.

16. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors includes:

powering one or more motion sensing operations of one or more sensors.

17. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors includes:

powering one or more image sensing operations of a one or more sensors.

18. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors includes:

powering one or more audio sensing operations of one or more sensors.

19. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors includes:

powering one or more electromagnetic radiation sensing operations of one or more sensors.

20. The system of claim 3, wherein the powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors includes:

circuitry for charging one or more power storage devices of the one or more sensors.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the charging one or more power storage devices of the one or more sensors comprises:

charging one or more batteries of the one or more sensors.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the charging one or more power storage devices of the one or more sensors comprises:

charging one or more capacitors of the one or more sensors.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

circuitry for powering one or more sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more power storage devices.

24. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of a presence of a sensor within a portion of a region to be monitored.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting one or more signals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or more sensors.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the transmitting one or more signals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or more sensors includes:

transmitting one or more radio frequency signals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or more sensors.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the transmitting one or more signals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or more sensors includes:

transmitting one or more optical frequency signals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or more sensors.

28. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for receiving one or more signals indicative of a presence of a sensor within the portion of the region to be monitored via a sensor monitoring device.

29. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

circuitry for receiving sensor data transmitted from the sensor to a sensor monitoring device in response to the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

30. The system of claim 3, wherein the wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters includes:

setting at least one of a signal transmission characteristic or a signal type for the one or more sensor operation activation signals; and

wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals having the at least one of a signal transmission characteristic or a signal type.

31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodying computer-readable instructions for execution of a process on a computing device, the process comprising:

obtaining a location of a sensor activation signal transmitter device;

determining one or more transmission authorization parameters according to a location of the at least one sensor activation signal transmitter device; and

wirelessly transmitting, via the sensor activation signal transmitter device, one or more sensor operation activation signals configured for powering one or more sensing operations of one or more sensors according to the one or more transmission authorization parameters.