Communication protocol for energy-harvesting devices
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- accumulating energy at an energy-harvesting communication device of a communication network, wherein the accumulated energy is harvested from electromagnetic energy generated by other sensors in the communication network;
detecting when the accumulated energy surpasses a sufficient threshold;
in response to the accumulated energy surpassing the sufficient threshold, determining whether a message needs to be transmitted and measuring a sensed value by the energy-harvesting communication device, wherein the message contains the sensed value;
in response to determining that the message needs to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, first transmitting, using the accumulated energy, the message from the energy-harvesting communication device into the communication network as an unreliable and unsynchronized broadcast transmission to any available receiver within the communication network, wherein the message is transmitted prior to receiving any messages after a node has entered a charging mode and includes a flag indicating that the message should be transmitted as a broadcast with no attempt to perform reliable transport; and
in response to determining that the message does not need to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, activating a receiver mode on the energy-harvesting communication device to listen for and correspondingly relay received transmissions from within the communication network.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, an energy-harvesting communication device of a communication network accumulates energy, e.g., electromagnetic energy. Upon detecting that the accumulated energy surpasses a sufficient threshold, the communication device may transmit a message into the communication network using the accumulated energy as an unreliable and unsynchronized broadcast transmission to any available receiver within the communication network.
40 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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accumulating energy at an energy-harvesting communication device of a communication network, wherein the accumulated energy is harvested from electromagnetic energy generated by other sensors in the communication network; detecting when the accumulated energy surpasses a sufficient threshold; in response to the accumulated energy surpassing the sufficient threshold, determining whether a message needs to be transmitted and measuring a sensed value by the energy-harvesting communication device, wherein the message contains the sensed value; in response to determining that the message needs to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, first transmitting, using the accumulated energy, the message from the energy-harvesting communication device into the communication network as an unreliable and unsynchronized broadcast transmission to any available receiver within the communication network, wherein the message is transmitted prior to receiving any messages after a node has entered a charging mode and includes a flag indicating that the message should be transmitted as a broadcast with no attempt to perform reliable transport; and in response to determining that the message does not need to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, activating a receiver mode on the energy-harvesting communication device to listen for and correspondingly relay received transmissions from within the communication network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus, comprising:
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energy-harvesting circuitry configured to accumulate energy from electromagnetic energy generated by other sensors in the communication network; one or more network interfaces to communicate within a communication network; a processor coupled to the network interfaces and adapted to execute one or more processes; and a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to; detect when the accumulated energy surpasses a sufficient threshold; in response to the accumulated energy surpassing the sufficient threshold, determine whether a message needs to be transmitted and measuring a sensed value by the energy-harvesting communication device, wherein the message contains the sensed value; in response to a determination that the message needs to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, first transmit the message into the communication network using the accumulated energy, the message transmitted as an unreliable and unsynchronized broadcast transmission to any available receiver within the communication network, wherein the message is transmitted prior to receiving any messages after a node has entered a charging mode and includes a flag indicating that the message should be transmitted as a broadcast with no attempt to perform reliable transport; and in response to determining that the message does not need to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, activating a receiver mode on the energy-harvesting communication device to listen for and correspondingly relay received transmissions from within the communication network. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software, when executed by a processor on an energy-harvesting communication device, operable to:
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detect when accumulated energy at the energy-harvesting communication device surpasses a sufficient threshold, wherein the accumulated energy is harvested from electromagnetic energy generated by other sensors in the communication network; in response to the accumulated energy surpassing the sufficient threshold, determine whether a message needs to be transmitted and measuring a sensed value by the energy-harvesting communication device, wherein the message contains the sensed value; and in response to a determination that the message needs to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, first transmit the message into the communication network using the accumulated energy, the message transmitted as an unreliable and unsynchronized broadcast transmission to any available receiver within the communication network, wherein the message is transmitted prior to receiving any messages after a node has entered a charging mode and includes a flag indicating that the message should be transmitted as a broadcast with no attempt to perform reliable transport; and in response to determining that the message does not need to be transmitted and the accumulated energy has surpassed the sufficient threshold, activating a receiver mode on the energy-harvesting communication device to listen for and correspondingly relay received transmissions from within the communication network. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification