Low power redundant transmission network

• US 9,998,994 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2016
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Squadle, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Squadle, Inc.
• Inventors: Zhang, Le, Chen, William K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bednash, Joseph A
• Application Number:
  US15/265,611
• Publication Number:
  US 20170078965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 636 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15528 Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/041 Key generation or derivation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and system for using a communication protocol over a low-powered transmission network. The communication system and protocol enables low-powered transmission devices to efficiently and reliably transmit data in challenging environments. The communication system and protocol can reduce power consumption by designating devices as either transmitter devices, repeater devices, and receiving devices, such that not all devices in the network need to be configured to transmit and receive data. Because the communication protocol does not require that all devices need to both transmit and receive data, there is a significant power usage savings relative to traditional mesh networks. Additionally, the present invention implements a combination of time-based diversity and transmission path diversity to more reliably communicate data. Devices in the system can change the manner in which they operate based on the sensor measurements, allowing the devices to intelligently respond to different conditions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a transmitter device, sensor data from a sensor, the sensor data indicating a measurement result for a measurement of a property sensed by the sensor;

evaluating, by the transmitter device, the obtained sensor data;

determining, by the transmitter device, operating parameters based on the evaluation of the sensor data, the operating parameters specifying;

a number of messages to be transmitted to indicate the sensor data;

content of the messages to be transmitted; and

a transmission security setting for the messages to be transmitted;

generating, by the transmitter device, one or more messages that each include (i) encrypted data including an encrypted form of a first value that quantifies the measurement result for the measurement of the property sensed by the sensor, and (ii) non-encrypted data including a non-encrypted value that quantifies the measurement result for the measurement of the property sensed by the sensor, wherein the non-encrypted value indicates the measurement result at a lower precision than the first value; and

transmitting, by the transmitter device, the one or more messages according to the determined operating parameters using a wireless transmitter of the transmitter device, wherein the one or more messages comprise the specified number of messages, and wherein each of the one or more messages includes the specified content and is transmitted according to the transmission security setting.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the obtained sensor data comprises:

determining, by the transmitter device, at least one threshold; and

determining, by the transmitter device, whether the obtained sensor data satisfies the at least one threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitter device is configured to transmit messages indicating obtained sensor data according to a first set of operating parameters when the sensor data satisfies the at least one threshold;

wherein the method comprises accessing data indicating (i) the at least one threshold and (ii) a second set of operating parameters that is different from the first set of operating parameters; and

wherein determining the operating parameters comprises selecting the second set of operating parameters for transmissions corresponding to the obtained sensor data based on the determination whether the obtained sensor data satisfies the at least one threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating parameters indicate a transmission power level determined based on the evaluation of the sensor data,

wherein transmitting the one or more messages comprises transmitting the one or more messages at the determined transmission power level.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing a process of obtaining sensor data performed by the transmitter device based on the evaluation of the sensor data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the operating parameters comprises determining a set of operating parameters that specifies at least one of a frequency of obtaining sensor data from a sensor, a type of sensor data collected, a number of sensors from which sensor data is collected, or an identity of sensors from which sensor data is collected.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the property sensed by the sensor is a temperature, a pH, a color, a density, a specific gravity, a humidity, or a level of total polar materials (TPM).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises identifying multiple communication technologies supported by the transmitter device;

wherein determining the operating parameters comprises selecting one or more of the multiple communication technologies based on the evaluation of the obtained sensor data; and

wherein transmitting the one or more messages comprises transmitting the one or more messages using the selected one or more of the multiple communication technologies.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitter device is configured to transmit a message corresponding to the obtained sensor data according to a first set of operating parameters when the property sensed by the sensor has a value within a range of values;

wherein evaluating the obtained sensor data comprises determining, based on the obtained sensor data, that a value for the property sensed by the sensor is outside the range of values; and

wherein determining the operating parameters comprises;

based on determining that the value for the property sensed by the sensor is outside the range of values, determining a second set of operating parameters for the obtained sensor data, the second set of operating parameters being different from the first set of operating parameters,

wherein, relative to the first set of operating parameters, the second set of operating parameters specifies at least one of an increased data rate for transmissions, a decreased interval between transmissions, an increased power level of transmissions, or an increased number of communications channels or protocols for transmissions.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

operating the transmitter device to obtain sensor data from the sensor at a first rate; and

based on the evaluation of the obtained sensor data, operating the transmitter device to obtain sensor data from the sensor at a second rate that is different from the first rate.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the transmitter device, a data collection rate for obtaining data from the sensor;

obtaining, by the transmitter device, multiple sets of sensor data from the sensor at the determined data collection rate; and

generating and transmitting, by the transmitter device, multiple messages for each of the multiple sets of sensor data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating parameters indicate a rate or interval for transmitting the one or more messages;

and

wherein transmitting the one or more messages comprises transmitting the one or more messages at the determined rate or interval.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating parameters indicate a transmission channel or a transmission protocol for transmitting the one or more messages;

and

wherein transmitting the one or more messages comprises transmitting the one or more messages using the indicated transmission channel or transmission protocol.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitter device transmits messages using a first communication channel prior to evaluating the obtained sensor data;

wherein the operating parameters determined based on the evaluation of the sensor data specify that messages should be sent using a second communication channel in addition to the first communication channel; and

wherein transmitting the one or more messages comprises transmitting the one or more messages over the first communication channel and the second communication channel.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on the sensor data, a measurement value for a measurement of a property;

wherein the transmitter device has an identifier; and

wherein generating the one or more messages comprises generating multiple messages corresponding to the measurement, wherein each of the multiple messages corresponding to the measurement;

(i) includes the identifier of the transmitter device;

(ii) indicates the measurement value determined for the measurement; and

(iii) includes a different designator from an ordered sequence of designators.

16. A transmitter device comprising:

a transmitter;

one or more processors; and

one or more machine-readable storage devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the transmitter device to perform operations comprising;

transmitting one or more first messages that each indicate a measurement value for a first measurement of a physical property, the first measurement being made using a first sensor, the one or more first messages being generated and transmitted according to a first set of operating parameters;

obtaining sensor data from the first sensor, the sensor data indicating a second measurement value for a second measurement of the physical property using the first sensor;

evaluating the obtained sensor data;

based on the evaluation of the sensor data;

changing a process of obtaining sensor data performed by the transmitter device, wherein changing the process of obtaining sensor data comprises causing sensor data to be acquired from a second sensor; and

determining second operating parameters that are different from the first operating parameters, the second operating parameters specifying different message content or transmission characteristics than the first operating parameters;

generating one or more messages that each include (i) encrypted data including an encrypted form of the second measurement value for the second measurement of the physical property, and (ii) non-encrypted data including a non-encrypted value derived from the second measurement value for the second measurement of the physical property, wherein the non-encrypted value indicates the second measurement of the physical property at a lower precision than the second measurement value; and

transmitting the one or more messages according to the one or more second operating parameters using a wireless transmitter of the transmitter device.

17. The transmitter device of claim 16, wherein evaluating the obtained sensor data comprises:

determining at least one threshold; and

determining whether the obtained sensor data satisfies the at least one threshold.

18. The transmitter device of claim 17, wherein the transmitter device is configured to transmit messages indicating obtained sensor data according to a first set of operating parameters when the sensor data satisfies the at least one threshold;

wherein the operations comprise accessing data indicating (i) the at least one threshold and (ii) a second set of operating parameters that is different from the first set of operating parameters; and

wherein determining the one or more operating parameters comprises selecting the second set of operating parameters for transmissions corresponding to the obtained sensor data based on the determination whether the obtained sensor data satisfies the at least one threshold.

19. The transmitter device of claim 16, wherein the second sensor measures a different physical property than the first sensor.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the non-encrypted value is a rounded or truncated version of the second measurement value.

21. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage devices storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a transmitter device, cause the transmitter device to perform operations comprising:

obtaining sensor data from a sensor to generate a collection of sensor readings;

evaluating the collection of sensor readings;

determining operating parameters for the transmitter device based on the evaluation of the collection of sensor readings, wherein the operating parameters include;

data collection parameters that specify a type of sensor data collected and specify sensors from which sensor data is to be collected; and

transmission parameters that specify a number of messages to be transmitted to indicate the sensor data;

generating one or more messages that each include (i) encrypted data including an encrypted form of first data indicating a sensor reading for a property sensed by the sensor, and (ii) non-encrypted data indicating the sensor reading for the property sensed by the sensor, wherein the non-encrypted data indicates the sensor reading at a lower precision than the first data;

transmitting the one or more messages according to the determined transmission parameters using a wireless transmitter of the transmitter device; and

changing a process of obtaining sensor data performed by the transmitter device to acquire data according to the determined data collection parameters.

22. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 21, wherein the first data specifies a value for the sensor reading for the property, and wherein the unencrypted data indicates that the sensor reading is within a predetermined range of values.