Association management in a wireless node network

• US 9,402,242 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2015
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fedex Corporate Services Incorporated (FedEx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fedex Corporate Services Incorporated (FedEx Corporation)
• Inventors: Skaaksrud, Ole-Petter, Hollahan, Terence, Benton, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Abelson, Ronald B
• Application Number:
  US14/611,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20160037478A1
• Time in Patent Office: 540 Days
• Field of Search: 370/254, 370/255
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/00256 Delivery operations
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 25/02 Packaging agricultural or horticultural products
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 25/02 Internal fittings of containers made by folding or erecting blanks made of paper B65D5/44
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 25/102 Straps, bands, strings or other elongate elements
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/01 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0289 of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0022 characterised by the communication link data switching networks in general H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0712 the arrangement being capable of triggering distinct operating modes or functions dependent on the strength of an energy or interrogation field in the proximity of the record carrier active means for hindering electromagnetic reading or writing G06K19/07336
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0836 : Recipient pick-ups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0838 : Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 : Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 : specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/22 : Payment schemes or models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/308 : using the Internet of Things
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/321 : using wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 : using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 : Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 : Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 : based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0261 : System arrangements wherein the object is to detect trespassing over a fixed physical boundary, e.g. the end of a garden
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0269 : System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the exact location of child or item using a navigation satellite system, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 : for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 : stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 : ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 : specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/61 : for local area broadcast, e.g. instore broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/71 : Wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/026 : using e-messaging for transporting management information, e.g. email, instant messaging or chat
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 : characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 : characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 : Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 : Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 : Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• 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 67/303 : Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 : specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 : Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 : using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 : using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 : for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 : Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 : managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 : TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 : Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 : locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 : with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 : Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 : Transfer of terminal data
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods and systems for association management within a wireless node network of nodes and a server are described. A method may identify a first node as a potential for associating with a second node based, for example, upon status information about the nodes. An association request is transmitted by the second node to the server. The server may determine the locations of the nodes, determine if associating the nodes is desired based on the locations, and record new association data if association should occur. Upon receiving a permissive response from the server, which may include one or more authorization credentials, the first node and second node may be associated. Then with authorization credentials, the first and second nodes may securely connect and share data. And once associated, responsibility for a task previously done by the first node may be shifted to the second node after the nodes are associated.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions which when executed on a processor performs a method for association management of a wireless node network having at least a plurality of nodes and a server, the method comprising:

receiving an association request from a second of the nodes, the association request asking for permission to associate a first of the nodes to the second node;

determining a location of the first node and second node;

determining if associating the first node to the second node is desired based at least upon the location of the first node and the location of the second node;

recording new association data if it is desired to associate the first node with the second node; and

transmitting a response to the second node granting the permission to associate the first node to the second node.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a location further comprises receiving location data for the second node and using at least one of a plurality of location methods available to the server for locating the first node.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the response further comprises transmitting a set of authorization credentials generated by the server, the authorization credentials being used to securely permit connecting the first node and the second node and securely exchanging operational information between the first node and the second node.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises receiving shared data from the second node, the shared data originating from the first node as a type of the operational information securely exchanged between the first node and the second node.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises instructing the second node by the server to take over responsibility for a task previously performed by the first node after the second node is associated with the first node.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the second node is powered by an external power source and the first node is powered by a battery.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of determining if associating the first node to the second node is desired further comprises:

identifying a current mode of filtering that limits potential nodes to be associated; and

associating the first node to the second node if the current mode of filtering allows the first node to be associated with the second node.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of associating the first node to the second node if the current mode of filtering defines that the second node is within a locational range of the first node consistent with the current mode of filtering.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises the step of altering the current mode of filtering to another mode of filtering that allows the first node to be associated with the second node.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the current mode of filtering is one of multiple modes of filtering that define different levels of restrictions on which nodes may associate and be managed by other nodes.

11. A method for association management of a wireless node network having at least a plurality of nodes and a server, the method comprising:

receiving, by a second of the nodes, a message broadcast from a first of the nodes;

capturing, by the second node, an address of the first node from the message;

associating the first node and the second node by storing the captured address of the first node and an address of the second node as association data in a memory of the second node;

transmitting, by the second node, the association data to the server;

determining a location, by the second node, of the first node; and

updating the server with a current location of the second node and the determined location of the first node.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving location information from the server, the location information defining a refined location of the first node.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising updating the server by the second node with an updated association data when the second node does not receive an additional message broadcast from the first node, the updated association data reflecting that the first node is disassociated from the second node.

14. A managing node in a wireless node network having at least another node and a server, the managing node comprising:

a processing unit;

a first communication interface coupled to the processing unit, the first communication interface providing a first communication path to the another node, the first communication interface being operative to receive a message broadcast from the another node and provide the message to the processing unit;

a second communication interface coupled to the processing unit, the second communication interface providing a second communication path to the server;

a volatile memory coupled to the processing unit;

a memory storage coupled to the processing unit, the memory storage maintaining a node association manager module; and

wherein the processing unit, when executing instructions of the node association manager module, is operative to

receive the message from the first communication interface,

capture an address of the another node from the message,

store the captured address of the another node and an address of the managing node as part of association data in the memory storage, the association data reflecting an association between the managing node and the another node, and

transmit the association data to the server through the second communication interface.

15. The managing node of claim 14, wherein the memory storage also maintains a location manager module;

and

wherein the processing unit, when executing instructions of the location manager manager module, is operative to;

determine a location of the another node,

determine a current location of the managing node, and

update the server with the current location of the managing node and the determined location of the another node.

16. The managing node of claim 15, wherein the processing unit, when executing instructions of the node association manager module, is further operative to update the server with updated association data when the first communication interface does not receive an additional message broadcast from the another node, the updated association data reflecting that the another node is disassociated from the managing node.

17. The managing node of claim 14 further comprising location circuitry coupled to the processing unit, wherein the location circuity being operative to generate one or more coordinates that reflect the current location of the managing node;

wherein the processing unit is further operative to determine the current location of the managing node based upon the one or more generated coordinates.

18. The managing node of claim 14, wherein the first communication interface is further operative to receive shared data from the another node;

wherein the processing unit of the managing node is further operative to

receive the shared data from the first communication interface, and

cause the second communication interface to transmit the shared data to the server.

19. The managing node of claim 18, wherein the shared data comprises information originated by a separate node in the wireless network and provided to the another node by the separate node.

20. The managing node of claim 14, wherein the managing node is a mobile type of node in the wireless node network.