Dynamic rule-based distributed network operation for wireless sensor networks

• US 8,892,704 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2006
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitre Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitre Corporation
• Inventors: Bronez, Thomas, Casagni, Michelle
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Rupal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ma, Wing
• Application Number:
  US11/399,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20070239862A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,147 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 370/338
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5051 Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5077 wherein the managed service relates to simple transport services, i.e. providing only network infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays
• 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: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Methods and systems for smart data processing and dissemination in wireless sensor networks are provided herein. In one aspect, the present invention provides dynamic and independent data processing and dissemination at individual sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. In another aspect, the present invention provides data processing and/or dissemination methods at a sensor node that are responsive to, among other parameters, network traffic conditions, network connectivity conditions, conditions at the sensor node, and the data characteristics and QOS (Quality of Service) requirements of the data being processed and/or disseminated. In yet another aspect, data processing and/or dissemination rules according to the present invention are easily configurable and modifiable depending on the specific sensor networking application.

Claims

1. A method for data processing at a wireless sensor device in a network, the method comprising:

receiving, at the wireless sensor device, data for processing;

determining, at the wireless sensor device, data characteristics of the data received at the wireless sensor device, wherein the data characteristics comprise data size;

determining, at the wireless sensor device, a set of network conditions, wherein the set of network conditions comprises;

network traffic makeup,

network load conditions,

network connectivity conditions,

an expected process by which data traffic arrives at the wireless sensor device,

the number of paths between the data origin and the data destination,

the average number of hops between the data origin and the data destination,

the probability of the wireless sensor device being connected to a sink node in the network, and

the probability of the data destination being connected to the sink node;

determining, at the wireless sensor device, device conditions of the wireless sensor device;

determining, at the wireless sensor device, based on the device conditions, supported actions that the wireless sensor device is able to perform on the received data;

selecting, at the wireless sensor device, one or more of the supported actions to be performed on the received data according to a pre-determined rule set; and

processing, at the wireless sensor device, the received data according to the one or more selected actions,

wherein the pre-determined rule set defines actions to be performed on the received data based on the data characteristics and the set of network conditions, and wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise data transformation actions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises one or more of a radar sensor, a camera sensor, a trip wire sensor, a radar data display, or an image display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the received data originates at the wireless sensor device or is received from another device in the network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of data characteristics further comprises:

data type, data origin, data destination, and data urgency.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the device conditions comprise device power condition, device transmit and receive capabilities, device geographical location, and device supported network protocols.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set are prioritized according to action importance and action resource requirement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise data dissemination actions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data dissemination actions implement a plurality of network transport and routing protocols.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the data transformation actions include data compression and data fusion.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise actions to trigger other actions at the wireless sensor device or at another device in the network.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-determined rule set is configured according to a selected sensor networking application.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the network load conditions comprise conditions related to congestion of nodes and links of the network.

25. The method of claim 5, wherein the device power conditions comprise remaining battery life of the device and power available to the device.

26. The method of claim 5, wherein the device transmit and receive capabilities comprise the device transmission range, the device supported transmit and receive data rates, and the actual throughput available to the device given a current radio channel environment.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein in response to determining a low power condition, the supported actions exclude resource intensive data processing.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein resource intensive data processing includes one or more of data compression, data fusion, flooding actions, or resource intensive data dissemination.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the network conditions comprises estimating one or more of the network conditions.

11. A wireless sensor device for processing and communicating data in a network, comprising:

one or more sensors for sensing events in the network;

a network monitor for monitoring a set of network conditions, wherein the set of network conditions comprises;

network traffic makeup,

network load conditions,

network connectivity conditions,

an expected process by which data traffic arrives at the wireless sensor device,

the number of paths between the data origin and the data destination,

the average number of hops between the data origin and the data destination,

the probability of the wireless sensor device being connected to a sink node in the network, and

the probability of the data destination being connected to the sink node;

a device monitor for monitoring device conditions;

a capabilities module for determining, based on the device conditions, supported actions that the wireless sensor device is able to perform on the data;

a rules engine for processing the data and for specifying the supported actions to be performed on the data according to a pre-determined rule set;

one or more actuators for performing the supported actions specified by the rules engine; and

a network interface for communicating with other devices in the network,

wherein the pre-determined rule set defines the actions to be performed on the data based on the set of network conditions and data characteristics of data received at the wireless sensor device, wherein the data characteristics comprise data size, and wherein the actions defined by the rule set comprise data transformation actions.

12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of a radar sensor, a camera sensor, or a trip wire sensor.

13. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the one or more actuators comprise at least one of a radar data display, an image display, or a trip display.

14. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the data is generated by the one or more sensors of the device or is received from another device in the network.

15. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the data characteristics further comprise data type, data origin, data destination, and data urgency.

16. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the device conditions comprise device power conditions, device transmit and receive capabilities, device geographical location, and device supported network protocols.

17. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the one or more actions to be performed on the data comprise data dissemination actions for communicating the data to other devices in the network using the network interface.

18. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the data dissemination actions implement a plurality of network transport and routing protocols.

19. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the data transformation actions, include one or more of data compression and data fusion.

20. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the one or more actions comprise actions to trigger other actions at the device or at another device in the network.

21. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the rule set is independent of rule sets used at other devices in the network.

22. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the rule set is extensible and modifiable.

27. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the pre-determined rule set is configured according to a selected sensor networking application.

28. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the network load conditions comprise conditions related to congestion of nodes and links of the network.

29. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein the device power conditions comprise remaining battery life of the device and power available to the device.

30. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein the device transmit and receive capabilities comprise the device transmission range, the device supported transmit and receive data rates, and the actual throughput available to the device given a current radio channel environment.

34. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein one or more of the set of network conditions is estimated.