Control of sensor networks

• US 8,447,847 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2007
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Forbes, Scott C, Baribault, Gregory, Panabaker, Ruston John David, Westerinen, William Jefferson
• Primary Examiner(s): RECEK, JASON D
• Application Number:
  US11/770,017
• Publication Number:
  US 20090006589A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,154 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709223-226
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• 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

Abstract

A method and apparatus is provided for generating an index and creating a network of devices based on the index. Information and data may be provided via the network. In one example, a request may be received from a user at a service. The service may maintain an index containing characteristics of devices. Any number or type of devices may be selected to participate in the network. Also, the network may be subsequently modified by the addition or removal of any device from the network. Information or data received from the network devices may be returned to the user requesting the information via the service.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

input hardware for receiving an input request for information, the input request including an authorization level that corresponds to a high priority level for the input request relative to another input request with another authorization level, the high priority level being assigned based on at least one characteristic of a requester associated with the input request, the high priority level providing a higher priority for responding to the input request over the another input request;

index hardware for storing an index, the index containing a plurality of characteristics of a network device, the characteristics including a movement, a capability, an availability, and a cost of each of network devices;

analyzer hardware for;

selecting a first plurality of network devices and one or more network devices distinct from the first plurality of network devices from a second plurality of network devices based on the index and the input request, one or more capabilities of each of the first plurality of network devices being superior to the one or more capabilities of each of the second plurality of network devices, the one or more capabilities including a resolution of image capture;

determining that the first plurality of network devices has an insufficient number of network devices to provide the requested information; and

in response to the determining that the first plurality of network devices has the insufficient number of network devices to provide the requested information, selecting the one or more data capture devices from the second plurality of network devices; and

output hardware for providing a network request for creating a network of devices at least partly based on a result of selecting by the analyzer hardware.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising network input hardware for receiving the plurality of characteristics of the network device, the network input hardware further storing the received characteristics of the network device in the index hardware.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further receives data from the network device based on the input request and transmits the received data to the requester.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of characteristics of the network device further comprises at least one of a location or an orientation of the network device.

5. A method comprising:

receiving an input request for information, the input request including an authorization level that corresponds to a high priority level for the input request relative to another input request with another authorization level, the high priority level being assigned based on at least one characteristic of a requester associated with the input request, the high priority level providing a higher priority for responding to the input request over the another input request;

storing an index, the index containing a plurality of characteristics of a network device, the characteristics including a movement, a capability, an availability, and a cost of each of network devices;

selecting a first plurality of network devices and one or more network devices distinct from the first plurality of network devices from a second plurality of network devices based on the index and the input request, one or more capabilities of each of the first plurality of network devices being superior to the one or more capabilities of each of the second plurality of network devices, the one or more capabilities including a resolution of image capture;

determining that the first plurality of network devices has an insufficient number of network devices to provide the requested information;

in response to the determining that the first plurality of network devices has the insufficient number of network devices to provide the requested information, selecting the one or more data capture devices from the second plurality of network devices; and

providing a network request for creating a network of devices at least partly based on a result of the selecting.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving the plurality of characteristics of the network device; and

storing the received characteristic of the network device.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving data from the network device based on the input request; and

transmitting the received data to the requester.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the network devices are devices that are capable of exchanging data.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the network devices include one or more data capture devices.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data capture devices include one or more cameras.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the selecting comprises:

accessing the index;

matching characteristics of one or more network devices with the input request; and

selecting the first plurality of network devices from multiple network devices based on the matching.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of characteristics further includes a location of the network device and the matching comprises:

identifying a location associated with the input request;

identifying a subset network devices from the multiple network devices in a vicinity of the location associated with the input request; and

marking the identified subset of network devices.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the matching comprises:

identifying a capability associated with the input request;

identifying a subset of network devices from the marked network devices having a capability corresponding to the identified capability; and

marking the identified subset of network devices having the capability.

14. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of characteristics further includes a device orientation of the network devices, and the selecting comprises:

identifying the device orientation from the index for one or more network devices;

modifying the device orientation of the one or more network devices, the modified device orientation corresponding with the input request; and

including the one or more network devices with the modified device orientation.

15. The method of claim 5, further comprising sending a service request to a remote service, the service request including a characteristic of the input request, and receiving a message from the service responsive to the service request, wherein the selecting is at least partly based on the message from the service.

16. The method of claim 5, further comprising modifying the selected devices, the modifying comprising:

receiving an updated characteristic from a network device in the first plurality of network devices;

updating the index based on the updated characteristic; and

modifying the network of devices based on the updated index.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

matching the updated characteristic with the input request; and

including the network device associated with the update characteristic in the network of devices based on the matching of the updated characteristic with the input request.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the matching the updated characteristic with the input request comprises identifying a mismatch between the updated characteristic and the input request; and

the including the network device associated with the updated characteristic in the first plurality of network devices includes excluding the network device associated with the updated characteristic from the network of devices.

19. One or more memory having stored therein computer executable modules that are executable by a device to perform actions comprising:

receiving an input request for information, the input request including an authorization level that corresponds to a high priority level for the input request relative to another input request with another authorization level, the high priority level being assigned based on at least one characteristic of a requester associated with the input request, the high priority level providing a higher priority for responding to the input request over the another input request;

storing an index, the index containing a plurality of characteristics of a network device, the characteristics including a movement, a capability, an availability, and a cost of the network device;

selecting a first plurality of network devices and one or more network devices distinct from the first plurality of network devices from a second plurality of network devices based on the index and the input request, one or more capabilities of each of the first plurality of network devices being superior to the one or more capabilities of each of the second plurality of network devices, the one or more capabilities including a resolution of image capture;

determining that the first plurality of network devices has an insufficient number of network devices to provide the requested information;

in response to the determining that the first plurality of network devices has the insufficient number of network devices to provide the requested information, selecting the one or more data capture devices from the second plurality of network devices; and

providing a network request for creating a network of devices at least partly based on a result of the selecting.

20. The one or more memory of claim 19, wherein the network devices include one or more data capture devices.