Event-based formalism for data management in a wireless sensor network

• US 20060088013A1
• Filed: 10/27/2004
• Published: 04/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Ganesh, Arul
• Granted Patent: US 7,630,336 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A wireless sensor network comprises a plurality of nodes that communicate over wireless communication links. At least one of the plurality of nodes receives sensor data from a sensor. At least one of the plurality of nodes determines when a discrete event occurs. When the discrete event occurs, transmits data related to the discrete event over at least one of the wireless communication links. The discrete event is a function of the sensor data.

Claims

1. A wireless sensor network comprising:

a plurality of nodes that communicate over wireless communication links, wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes receives sensor data from a sensor;

wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes determines when a discrete event occurs and, when the discrete event occurs, transmits data related to the discrete event over at least one of the wireless communication links; and

wherein the discrete event is a function of the sensor data.

2. The wireless sensor network of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of nodes determines when another discrete event occurs and, when the other discrete event occurs, transmits data related to the other discrete event over at least one of the wireless communication links, wherein the other discrete event is not a function of the sensor data.

3. The wireless sensor network of claim 1, wherein the wireless sensor network is queried by specifying a set of discrete events of interest and, for each of the set of discrete events of interest, a producer node included in the plurality of nodes determines when that discrete events of interest occurs and, when that discrete event of interest occurs, transmits data related to that discrete event of interest.

4. The wireless sensor network of claim 3, wherein, for each of the set of discrete events of interest, the producer node for that discrete event of interest transmits the data related to that discrete event of interest to a consumer node associated with that discrete event of interest when that discrete event of interest occurs.

5. The wireless sensor network of claim 1, wherein the sensor data comprises continuous data.

6. The wireless sensor network of claim 5, wherein the at least one of the plurality of nodes determines when the discrete event occurs based on the continuous data.

7. The wireless sensor network of claim 6, wherein the at least one of the plurality of nodes uses an event filter to filter the continuous data to determine when the discrete event occurs.

8. The wireless sensor network of claim 1, further comprising an event-based data management model operable to retrieve, from the wireless sensor network, data related to the discrete event.

9. A wireless sensor node, comprising:

a wireless transceiver to communicate over a wireless communication link; and

a sensor interface to receive sensor data from a sensor;

wherein the wireless sensor node determines when a discrete event occurs and, when the discrete event occurs, transmits data related to the discrete event over the wireless communication link; and

wherein the discrete event is a function of the sensor data.

10. The wireless sensor node of claim 9, wherein the wireless sensor is a member of wireless sensor network, wherein an event-based data management model is used to retrieve, from the wireless sensor network, data related to the discrete event.

11. The wireless sensor node of claim 10, further comprising a protocol interface that implements at least a portion of the event-based data management model.

12. The wireless sensor node of claim 11, wherein the event-based data management model comprises a plurality of layers, wherein the protocol interface of the wireless sensor node implements at least one of the plurality of layers.

13. The wireless sensor node of claim 11, wherein the protocol interface of the wireless sensor node implements a physical layer.

14. The wireless sensor node of claim 11, wherein the protocol interface of the wireless sensor node implements an execution layer that determines when the discrete event occurs.

15. The wireless sensor node of claim 9, wherein the sensor data comprises continuous data.

16. The wireless sensor node of claim 15, wherein the wireless sensor node determines when the discrete event occurs based on the continuous data.

17. The wireless sensor node of claim 16, wherein the wireless sensor node uses an event filter to filter the continuous data to determine when the discrete event occurs.

18. A method of accessing data in a wireless sensor network comprising a plurality of nodes that communicate over wireless communication links, wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes receives sensor data from a sensor, the method comprising:

querying the wireless sensor network for data, wherein the query specifies a set of discrete events of interest; and

for each of the set of discrete events of interest, at at least one of the plurality of nodes, determining when that discrete event occurs and, when that discrete event occurs, transmitting data related to that discrete event.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the sensor data comprises continuous data and wherein, for each of the set of discrete events of interest, at at least one of the plurality of nodes, determining when that discrete event occurs comprises determining when that discrete event occurs based on the continuous data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, for each of the set of discrete events of interest, at at least one of the plurality of nodes, determining when that discrete event occurs based on the continuous data comprises filtering the continuous data to identify when the discrete event occurs.