Method for controlling transmissions from a resource-restricted device, and batteryless device

• US 9,537,671 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2010
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Philips Lighting Holding BV (Signify N.V.)
• Inventors: Erdmann, Bozena, Lelkens, Lelkens Michel Marie, Tolhuizen, Ludovicus Marinus Gerardus Maria, Yuan, Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Yacob, Sisay
• Application Number:
  US13/318,679
• Publication Number:
  US 20120056728A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,444 Days
• Field of Search: 340/12.5, 340/286.06, 49/13, 187/395, 294/102.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for controlling transmissions of a batteryless device (1) operating in a wireless network, the method comprising the following steps: the batteryless device (1) transmitting a frame including elements for controlling operation of a remote device (2a), or controlled device, the batteryless device being configured with a predetermined number of planned retransmissions of the control frame, the batteryless device sensing a change in the physical phenomenon induced by operation of the controlled device (2a), the batteryless device determining, based on the sensing step, the success or failure of the frame transmission, in case the transmission has succeeded, the batteryless device omitting further retransmissions of the control frame. The present invention also relates to a batteryless device carrying out such method.

Claims

1. A method for controlling transmissions of a batteryless device operating in a wireless network, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the batteryless device over a wireless communication interface to a controlled device, a control frame including elements for controlling operation of the controlled device, the batteryless device being configured with a number of planned retransmissions of the control frame;

sensing, by the batteryless device with a sensor, a change in a physical phenomenon induced by an operation of the controlled device, the operation of the controlled device being based on receiving the transmitted control frame, wherein the sensing of the change in the physical phenomenon is performed by the sensor device included in the batteryless device and different from the wireless communication interface;

determining, by the batteryless device and based on the sensing, whether the transmitted control frame was received successfully by the controlled device; and

canceling the further planned retransmissions of the control frame when the batteryless device determines the control frame was received successfully.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining the number of planned retransmissions and a time spacing between them.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising harvesting a quantity of energy for performing the number of planned retransmissions, wherein the number of planned retransmissions is predetermined.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising, storing the harvested energy for future use when the further retransmissions are cancelled.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the controlled device is configured to control light conditions, and wherein the sensing is performed by the batteryless device using the sensing device comprised in the group comprising:

a light-sensitive resistance, a photodiode, a solar cell, and an autonomous light intensity change sensor.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the controlled device is a valve, and wherein the sensing is performed by the batteryless device by detecting change in a flow via change in a voltage or a current supplied by a rotating part situated in the flow.

7. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the harvested quantity of energy is used by the batteryless device to receive configuration data, further comprising:

in case of determining success of transmission, switching, by the batteryless device, from transmit mode to receive mode, and

in case of a successful reception of the control frame, the controlled device switching from receive mode to transmit mode, and sending configuration data in-band to the batteryless device.

8. The method as recited in claim 3, comprising using the harvested quantity of energy for determining a transmission channel for transmissions of the control frames, and storing the determined transmission channel in a memory.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, comprising:

storing in the memory an indication of unsuccessful transmission attempts,

after a predetermined number of consecutive unsuccessful transmission attempts, storing in the memory a flag indicating a change of the transmission channel,

sending subsequent transmissions on a new channel(s), and

in case any of the subsequent transmissions is successful, clearing the flag and storing the new channel in the memory.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the sensing can be enabled and disabled.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the wireless network is a ZigBee network.

12. A batteryless device for controlling remote devices in a wireless network, the batteryless device comprising:

a wireless communication interface comprising

a receiver;

a transmitter configured to transmit a control frame to one or more remotely controlled devices in a wireless network wherein the control frame includes information for controlling operation of the one or more remote devices, and wherein the transmitter is configured with a predetermined number of planned retransmissions of the control frame, and a switch configured to switch between a transmit mode and a receive mode; and

a sensor device, within the batteryless transmitter, configured to detect a change in a physical phenomenon induced by the operation of the one or more remotely controlled devices, wherein said detecting the change in the physical phenomenon is performed by the sensor device and different from the wireless communication interface, and wherein the sensor device is further configured to notify the transmitter to cancel further planned retransmissions when the sensor device detects the change in the physical phenomenon.

13. The batteryless device according to claim 12, wherein the wireless communication interface is implemented according to a Batteryless ZigBee protocol.

14. The batteryless device according to claim 12, wherein the wireless communication interface is implemented according to a ZigBee RF4CE protocol.