ESTABLISHING GROUPS OF INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) DEVICES AND ENABLING COMMUNICATION AMONG THE GROUPS OF IOT DEVICES

• US 20140241354A1
• Filed: 02/21/2014
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: SHUMAN, Mohammed Ataur Rahman, GUPTA, Binita, AGGARWAL, Ashutosh, GUEDALIA, Isaac David, GUEDALIA, Jacob, GOEL, Amit, SHARMA, Sandeep, CHANDHOK, Ravinder Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,853,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/390
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/102 Gateways arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways, H04L12/66
• 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 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• 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 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

The disclosure generally relates to enabling communication among one or more Internet of Things (IoT) device groups. In particular, various heterogeneous IoT devices that may need to interact with one another in different ways may be organized into IoT device groups to support efficient interaction among the IoT devices. For example, pre-defined IoT device groups may be formed organize certain IoT devices that perform similar activities and certain IoT devices may be dynamically allocated to ad-hoc IoT device groups for certain contexts (e.g., the ad-hoc IoT device groups may include IoT devices that can implement a desired function and therefore be dynamically formed to implement the desired function). Furthermore, the IoT groups may communicate hierarchically, wherein messages may be exchanged among IoT group owners or ranking members to support efficient communication between different IoT groups.

Claims

1. A method for Internet of Things (IoT) group communication, comprising:

forming multiple IoT devices into multiple IoT groups according to one or more group criteria and one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices; and

defining one or more hierarchies within each IoT group according to the one or more group criteria and the one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices, wherein the one or more hierarchies control intra-group communication within each IoT group and inter-group communication among the multiple IoT groups.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein defining the one or more hierarchies comprises:

designating a group owner within each IoT group, wherein the designated group owner coordinates the inter-group communication with other IoT groups.

3. The method recited in claim 2, wherein a server communicates with the group owners in each IoT group to further coordinate the inter-group communication.

4. The method recited in claim 2, wherein the group owners in each IoT group communicate peer-to-peer to coordinate the inter-group communication.

5. The method recited in claim 2, wherein the inter-group communication comprises:

sending a message from an IoT device in a first IoT group to an address associated with a target IoT group, wherein the group owner associated with the target IoT group receives the message and forwards the received message to other IoT devices in the target IoT group according to the one or more hierarchies that control the inter-group communication.

6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein defining the one or more hierarchies comprises:

designating one or more ranking members within each IoT group, wherein the designated ranking members coordinate the intra-group communication within each IoT group.

7. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more static criteria and the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more static criteria and permanent attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

8. The method recited in claim 1, wherein forming the multiple IoT devices into the multiple IoT groups comprises:

forming at least one predefined IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more permanent attributes in common, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise static criteria based on the one or more permanent attributes.

9. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more dynamic criteria and the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more dynamic criteria and one or more contextually limited attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

10. The method recited in claim 1, wherein forming the multiple IoT devices into the multiple IoT groups comprises:

forming at least one ad-hoc IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more common attributes that are contextually limited, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise dynamic criteria based on the one or more contextually limited attributes.

11. The method recited in claim 10, wherein forming the ad-hoc IoT group comprises:

detecting a plurality of the multiple IoT devices that are in proximity to one another;

identifying a desired function to implement;

determining a subset of the plurality of IoT devices that have capabilities to implement the desired function based on the one or more attributes associated therewith;

directing the determined subset of the plurality of IoT devices to form an independent device group configured to communicate over a local communication channel, wherein the at least one ad-hoc IoT group includes at least the independent device group; and

directing the independent device group to implement the desired function.

12. The method recited in claim 11, wherein a device organizer proximate to the plurality of IoT devices detects the plurality of IoT devices via a local bootstrapping channel.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the detected plurality of IoT devices includes one or more light sources,

the desired function to implement comprises reducing light interference near a projection screen in proximity to the plurality of IoT devices,

the one or more attributes include light emission capabilities, installation positions, and light output orientations associated with the one or more light sources,

the subset of the plurality of IoT devices formed into the independent device group are expected to cause the light interference near the projection screen based on one or more of the light emission capabilities, the installation positions, or the orientations associated with the one or more light sources, and

the subset of the plurality of IoT devices formed into the independent device group are configured to reduce the light interference near the projection screen by one or more of reducing light output levels or changing the light output orientations associated therewith.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the detected plurality of IoT devices includes one or more air conditioners,

the desired function to implement comprises cooling a room,

the one or more attributes include identified areas that the one or more air conditioners can cool and degrees to which the one or more air conditioners can cool the identified areas,

the subset of the plurality of IoT devices formed into the independent device group are configured to cool the room, and

the subset of the plurality of IoT devices formed into the independent device group are configured to adjust cooling output levels to cool the room.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

means for forming multiple IoT devices into multiple IoT groups according to one or more group criteria and one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices; and

means for defining one or more hierarchies within each IoT group according to the one or more group criteria and the one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices, wherein the one or more hierarchies control intra-group communication within each IoT group and inter-group communication among the multiple IoT groups.

16. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the means for defining the one or more hierarchies comprises means for designating a group owner within each IoT group, wherein the designated group owner coordinates the inter-group communication with other IoT groups.

17. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the means for defining the one or more hierarchies comprises means for designating one or more ranking members within each IoT group, wherein the designated ranking members coordinate the intra-group communication within each IoT group.

18. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more static criteria and the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more static criteria and permanent attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

19. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the means for forming the multiple IoT devices into the multiple IoT groups comprises means for forming at least one predefined IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more permanent attributes in common, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise static criteria based on the one or more permanent attributes.

20. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more dynamic criteria and the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more dynamic criteria and one or more contextually limited attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

21. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the means for forming the multiple IoT devices into the multiple IoT groups comprises means for forming at least one ad-hoc IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more common attributes that are contextually limited, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise dynamic criteria based on the one or more contextually limited attributes.

22. The apparatus recited in claim 21, wherein the means for forming the ad-hoc IoT group comprises:

means for determining a subset of a plurality of IoT devices that are in proximity to one another and have capabilities to implement a desired function based on the one or more attributes associated therewith; and

means for directing the determined subset of the plurality of IoT devices to form an independent device group configured to communicate over a local communication channel to implement the desired function, wherein the at least one ad-hoc IoT group includes at least the independent device group.

23. The apparatus recited in claim 22, further comprising means for detecting the plurality of IoT devices when the plurality of IoT devices are in proximity to the apparatus.

24. A device for organizing an Internet of Things (IoT) network, comprising:

a memory configured to store one or more group criteria; and

one or more processors configured to form multiple IoT devices into multiple IoT groups according to the one or more group criteria and one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices and define one or more hierarchies within each IoT group according to the one or more group criteria and the one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices, wherein the one or more hierarchies control intra-group communication within each IoT group and inter-group communication among the multiple IoT groups.

25. The device recited in claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to designate a group owner within each IoT group to define the one or more hierarchies, wherein the designated group owner coordinates the inter-group communication with other IoT groups.

26. The device recited in claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to designate one or more ranking members within each IoT group to define the one or more hierarchies, wherein the designated ranking members coordinate the intra-group communication within each IoT group.

27. The device recited in claim 24, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more static criteria and the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more static criteria and permanent attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

28. The device recited in claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to form at least one predefined IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more permanent attributes in common to form the multiple IoT groups, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise static criteria based on the one or more permanent attributes.

29. The device recited in claim 24, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more dynamic criteria and the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more dynamic criteria and one or more contextually limited attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

30. The device recited in claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to form at least one ad-hoc IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more common attributes that are contextually limited to form the multiple IoT groups, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise dynamic criteria based on the one or more contextually limited attributes.

31. The device recited in claim 30, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a subset of a plurality of IoT devices that are in proximity to one another and have capabilities to implement a desired function based on the one or more attributes associated therewith and direct the determined subset of the plurality of IoT devices to form an independent device group configured to communicate over a local communication channel to implement the desired function, wherein the at least one ad-hoc IoT group includes at least the independent device group.

32. The device recited in claim 31, further comprising:

a local bootstrapping channel, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to detect the plurality of IoT devices via the local bootstrapping channel when the plurality of IoT devices are in proximity to the device.

33. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions recorded thereon, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on one or more processors causes the one or more processors to:

form multiple IoT devices into multiple IoT groups according to one or more group criteria and one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices; and

define one or more hierarchies within each IoT group according to the one or more group criteria and the one or more attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices, wherein the one or more hierarchies control intra-group communication within each IoT group and inter-group communication among the multiple IoT groups.

34. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 33, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on the one or more processors further causes the one or more processors to designate a group owner within each IoT group, wherein the designated group owner coordinates the inter-group communication with other IoT groups.

35. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 33, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on the one or more processors further causes the one or more processors to designate one or more ranking members within each IoT group, wherein the designated ranking members coordinate the intra-group communication within each IoT group.

36. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 33, wherein the one or more group criteria include one or more static criteria and one or more dynamic criteria, wherein the one or more hierarchies are defined based on the one or more static criteria and permanent attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group, and wherein the one or more hierarchies are further defined based on the one or more dynamic criteria and one or more contextually limited attributes associated with the one or more IoT devices in each IoT group.

37. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 33, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on the one or more processors further causes the one or more processors to form at least one predefined IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more permanent attributes in common, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise static criteria based on the one or more permanent attributes.

38. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 33, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on the one or more processors further causes the one or more processors to form at least one ad-hoc IoT group that includes one or more members having one or more common attributes that are contextually limited, wherein the one or more group criteria comprise dynamic criteria based on the one or more contextually limited attributes.

39. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 38, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on the one or more processors further causes the one or more processors to:

determine a subset of a plurality of IoT devices that are in proximity to one another and have capabilities to implement a desired function based on the one or more attributes associated therewith; and

direct the determined subset of the plurality of IoT devices to form an independent device group configured to communicate over a local communication channel to implement the desired function, wherein the at least one ad-hoc IoT group includes at least the independent device group.

40. The computer-readable storage medium recited in claim 39, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on the one or more processors further causes the one or more processors to detect the plurality of IoT devices via a local bootstrapping channel.