Technical Field
[0001] This invention is related to a sensor, a sensor system, a method of controlling at least
one of a plurality of sensors included in a sensor system, an interface used for a sensor
system and a method of controlling a sensor system including a plurality of sensors and
a higher layer device controlling the plurality of the sensors, more specifically, to a
sensor, a sensor system, a method of controlling at least one of a plurality of sensors
included in a sensor system, an interface used for a sensor system and a method of con
trolling a sensor system used for collecting, for example, temperature data or humidity
data in an environment.
Background Art
[0002] During the last two decade, there has been a momentous growth in Sensor Networks
that makes it potentially suitable for use in environment monitoring and process
control application. Data collection and management are the two critical processes in
the sensor network applications.
[0003] Fig. 1 shows the sensor network architecture which consists of sensor (wired as well
as wireless), gateway (wireless as well as wired), network server and the application
unit in the Related Art. As shown in Fig. 1, a sensor network system 1000 includes a
plurality of sensors 1100, a gateway 1200, a network infrastructure 1210, a network
service provider 1220, and an application 1300. The application 1300 or the network
service provider 1220 collects sensor data from the plurality of the sensors 1100
through the gateway 1200 and the network infrastructure 1210. Most of the Related
Arts manage the data at the gateway level.
Citation List
Non Patent Literature
[0004] NPL 1: Energy-Efficient Data Management For Sensor Networks: A Workin-
Progress Report Alan Demers, Johannes Gehrke, Rajmohan Rajaraman, Niki
Trigoni, and Yong Yao,Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY 14853
(http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/sensors/publications/Demers_UpstateNYWorkshop2003.pdf
)
NPL 2: Energy Efficient Data Management for Wireless Sensor Networks with Data
Sink Failure, Hyunyoung Lee, Andreas Klappenecker, Kyungsook Lee, Lan Lin in
Proceedings of the Workshop on Resource Provisioning and Management in Sensor
Networks, Nov. 2005
(http://faculty.cse.tamu.edu/hlee/Research/RPMSN05.pdf)
NPL 3: Efficient Data Collection with Sampling in WSNs: Making Use of Matrix
Completion Techniques Jie Cheng,Hongbo Jiang,Xiaoqiang Ma,Lanchao Liu, Lijun
Qian, Chen Tian, and Wenyu Liu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
Wuhan 430074 China, IEEE Globecom 2010 proceedings
NPL 4: DATA GATHERING ALGORITHMS FOR WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORKS: A SURVEY K.Ramanan and E.Baburaj, Sun college of Engineering
and Technology, Nagercoil. International Journal of Ad hoc, Sensor and Ubiquitous
Computing (IJASUC) Vol.1, No.4, December 2010
NPL 5: Abughalieh, Nashat Le Borgne, Yann-Ael Steenhaut, Kris Nowe, Lifetime op
timization for wireless sensor networks with correlated data gathering, Modeling and
Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc and Wireless Networks (WiOpt), 2010 Proceedings
of the 8th International Symposium on Issue Date : May 3 1 2010-June 4 2010 On
page(s): 266 272.
NPL 6: Ayman Mohammd Brisha Classifying Sensors Depending on their IDs to
Reduce Power Consumption in Wireless Sensor Networks 2010, International Journal
of Online Engineering ,Vol: 6 Issue: 2 Pages/record No.: 41-45.
NPL 7: Ayon Chakraborty ; Kaushik Chakraborty ; Swamp Kumar Mitra ; Mrinal K.
Naskar , An energy efficient scheme for data gathering in wireless sensor networks
using particle swarm optimization 2009,Journal of Applied Computer Science and
Mathematics ,Vol: 3 Issue: 6 Pages/record No.: 9-13.
NPL 8: B.Amutha ;M. Ponnavaikko ; N.Karthick ; M.Saravanan, Localization
Algorithm Using Varying Speed Mobile Sink for Wireless Sensor Networks 2010 In
ternational Journal of Ad Hoc, Sensor and Ubiquitous Computing, Issn: 09762205,
Elssn: 09761764, Volume: 1, Issue: 3, pages/rec.No: 130-149.
NPL 9: Chiu-Kuo Liang Jian-Da Lin Chih-Shiuan Li ,Steiner Points Routing Protocol
for Wireless Sensor Networks, in Future Information Technology (FutureTech), 2010
5th International Conference on IssueMay2010 On page(s): 1 5,Busan.
NPL 10: M. Demirbas, A. Arora, and V. Mittal. FLOC: A fast local clustering service
for wireless sensor networks. Workshop on Dependability Issues in Wireless Ad Hoc
Networks and Sensor Networks (DIWANS/DSN), 2004.
NPL 11: Yi-hua Zhu , Wan-deng Wu, Jian Pan , Yi- ping Tang, "An energy-efficient
data gathering algorithm to prolong lifetime of wireless sensor networks", Original
Research Article, Computer Communications, Volume 33, Issue 5,
15March2010,Pages639-647.
NPL 12: Hoang, D.C. Yadav, P. Kumar, R. Panda, S.K, "A Robust Harmony Search
Algorithm Based Clustering Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks", Communications
Workshops (ICC), 2010 IEEE International Conference on issue Date : 23-27 May
2010 On page(s): 1 - 5.
NPL 13: Ying Liang, "An energy-efficient clustering algorithm for data gathering and
aggregation in sensor networks" , Industrial Electronics and Applications, 2009. ICIEA
2009. 4th IEEE Conference on 25-27, May2009, 3935-3939.
NPL 14: Lingyun Yuan Yunlong Zhu Tianwei Xu, "A Multi-Layered Energy-Efficient
and Delay-Reduced Chain-Based Data Gathering Protocol for Wireless Sensor
Network", : Mechtronic and Embedded Systems and Applications, 2008. MESA 2008.
IEEE/ASME International Conference on Issue Date : 12-15 Oct. 2008 On page(s): 13
- 18.
NPL 15: Narang, Sunil K Shen, Godwin Ortega, Antonio, Unidirectional graph-based
wavelet transforms for efficient data gathering in sensor networks, Acoustics Speech
and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 2010 IEEE International Conference on Issue Date:
14-19March2010 On page(s): 2902 - 2905.
NPL 16: Wang, Zheng Liu, Yunsheng, "Data gathering routing algorithm based on
energy level in wireless sensor networks", Future Computer and Communication
(ICFCC), 2010 2nd International Conference on IssueDate 21-24May2010 Volume : 2
,On page(s): V2-160 - V2-164.
NPL 17: Junbin Liang Jianxin Wang Jianer Chen," A Delay-Constrained and
Maximum Lifetime Data Gathering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks", Mobile
Ad-hoc and Sensor Networks, 2009. MSN '09. 5th International Conference on Issue
Date : 14 16 Dec. 2009 On page(s): 148 - 155.
NPL 18: Soyoung Hwang Gwang-Ja Jin Changsub Shin Bongsoo Kim," Energy-
Aware Data Gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks", Consumer Communications and
Networking Conference, 2009. CCNC 2009. 6th IEEE Issue Date : 10-13Jan.2009 On
page(s): 1 - 4.
NPL 19: Yang, Jing Zetao Li Yi Lin Wei Zhao, "A novel energy-efficient data
gathering algorithm for wireless sensor networks", Intelligent Control and Automation
(WCICA), 2010 8th World Congress on IssueDate: 7-9July2010 On page(s): 7016 -
7020.
Summary of Invention
Technical Problem
The drawbacks of the sensor network implementation in the Related Arts are as
follows. Firstly, the sensor network implementation in the Related Art has pre
configured sensor nodes which collect and send the data continuously in predefined
interval from the field. Due to network characteristics there is a limitation in the
transmission bandwidth which leads to network congestion and also data loss.
[0006] Consider a temperature monitoring system, if a sensor sends data periodically every
one second, the amount of data would be around 2.5 million Tera byte/month. This
number increases exponentially, as the number of the sensor grows for the enterprise
level network.
[0007] Secondly, the sensor nodes in the Related Art do not have built-in intelligence, which
behave the same way irrespective of the working environment. That is, sensor nodes
have pre-configured sampling rate such as the number of sample per second and
predefined accuracy such as the number of bits per sample.
[0008] Consider an example where sensors are deployed to monitor the temperature of
boilers in the industry environment. These temperature sensors are preconfigured with
fixed sampling rate and fixed resolution. In this application the 2 minutes sampling
interval with the accuracy of 8 bits per sample, which means the sensor would sense
data and send to access network gateway periodically at every 2 minutes interval with
the accuracy of 8 bits per sample. If there occurs some emergency situation, due to
some issue in the boiler output which in-turn exponentially raises the boiler tem
perature, the difference in the actual sample value between two successive samples is
very high.
[0009] However, if the sensor system prepares for such an issue, the number of the sampling
rate and the accuracy of the samples are set large, and the amount of data increases too
much. Redundant data flow in the network, which introduces more traffic as well as
congestion in the network. On the other hand, if the number of the sampling rate and
the accuracy of the samples are set small, the application 1300 cannot collect the
necessary data used for, for example, monitoring the environment.
[0010] Further, there are various ways to collect and manage data discussed in the literature
such as Energy-efficient Routing Algorithm to Prolong Lifetime [NPL 11], Harmony
Search Algorithm (HSA) [NPL 12], Novel clustering algorithm OCABTR [NPL 13],
Multi-Layer Energy-Efficient And Delay-Reducing Chain-Based Data Gathering
Protocol [NPL 14], Steiner Points Grid Routing [NPL 15], Data Gathering Algorithm
Based on Energy Level( DGEL) [NPL 16], Energy-efficient and Delay-aware Data
Gathering Protocol [NPL 17], Energy-Efficient Data Gathering Protocol (EEDGP)
[NPL 18], and Energy-efficient data gathering algorithm(EDGA) [NPL 19]. However,
there exists still heavy data traffic below the gateway level where there is lack of
available bandwidth in case of wireless sensor network. Currently no mechanism exists
that can introduce dynamic behavior in the sensor data collection.
[001 1] Therefore there is need of data management below the gateway so as to maximize the
bandwidth utilization as well as the energy efficiency, which increases the life time of
the sensor nodes.
Solution to Problem
[0012] The present invention have been made to solve the problem like this, and an object
thereof is to provide a sensor, a sensor system and a method of controlling a sensor
system that can dynamically tune a configuration parameter of sensor data.
[0013] In one embodiment, there is provided a sensor which is used for a sensor system
including a plurality of sensors and a higher layer device of the sensor, including: a
receiving part that receives a control signal having at least one control command, the
control signal being sent from the higher layer device, and a sensing part that senses
sensor data with at least one configuration parameter dynamically set by the control
command.
[0014] In another embodiment, there is provided a sensor system including: a plurality of
sensors that senses sensor data with at least one configuration parameter, and a higher
layer device that sends a control signal having at least one control command. More
than one of the plurality of the sensors senses data with at least one configuration
parameter dynamically set by the control command included in the control signal.
[0015] In another embodiment, there is provided a method of controlling more than one of a
plurality of sensors included in a sensor system, including: a receiving step that
receives a control signal having at least one control command, the control signal being
sent by a higher layer device of the sensor, and a sensing step that senses sensor data
with at least one configuration parameter dynamically set by the control command
included in the control signal.
[0016] In another embodiment, there is provided an interface used for a sensor system
including a plurality of sensors and a higher layer device of the sensor, including at
least one of: a frequency command that dynamically sets a frequency of sensor data
sensed by more than one of the plurality of the sensors, and an accuracy control
command that dynamically sets an accuracy of sensor data sensed by more than one of
the plurality of the sensors.
[0017] In another embodiment, there is provided a method of controlling a sensor system
including a plurality of sensors and a higher layer device of the sensor, including: first
collecting step that collects sensor data from the plurality of sensors, first finding step
that finds there is something wrong in a sensor's surroundings, changing step that
changes a control command included in a control signal in order to set a new con
figuration parameter of at least one sensor, and that sends the control signal to the at
least one sensor, second collecting step that collects sensor data from the at least one
sensor with the new configuration parameter been set by the control signal sent by the
higher layer device, and second finding step that finds a situation backs to a normal
state, and that sends a control signal to the at least one sensor to reset the configuration
parameters.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0018] A sensor, a sensor system and a method of controlling a sensor system of the present
invention can dynamically tune a configuration parameter of sensor data.
[0019] These and other features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the
methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structures and the com
bination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon con
sideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the
accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like
reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to be
expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and
description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As
used in the specification and the claims, the singular form of "a", "an", and "the"
include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Brief Description of Drawings
[0020] The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be
more apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[fig.l]Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a sensor system in the Related Art.
[fig.2]Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a sensor system of an exemplary em
bodiment of the present invention.
[fig.3]Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a sensor 100 of an exemplary em
bodiment of the present invention.
[fig.4]Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an IDMI control signal 410 of an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.5]Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing one example of the device using IDMI of an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.6]Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing another example of the device using IDMI of
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.7]Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing an application classification of the sensor
system of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.8]Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of an IDMI control signal format
for dynamic configuration of a field level sensor using an IDMI interface of an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.9A]Fig. 9A is a schematic view showing example of the IDMI control signal
format of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.9B]Fig. 9B is a schematic view showing example of the IDMI control signal
format of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.9C]Fig. 9C is a schematic view showing example of the IDMI control signal
format of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig.lO]Fig. 10 is a flow chart showing a method for controlling the sensor system of
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[fig. 1l]Fig. 1 1 is a schematic view showing an IoT Reference Architecture with
lightweight requirements.
[fig. 12] Fig. 12 is a schematic view showing a modified gateway with dynamic data
management interface of an another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Description of Embodiments
[0021] For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms "upper", "lower", "right", "left",
"vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "lateral", "longitudinal", and derivatives
thereof shall relate to the invention as it is oriented in the drawing figures. However, it
is to be understood that the invention may assume alternative variations and step
sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood
that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and
described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the
invention. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to
exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting.
[0022] As described above, the Related Art in the industrial monitoring application deploys
with fixed data rate sensors with pre- set configuration parameters in continuous
transmitting mode. Therefore, the inventors of the present invention have proposed a
new interface (hereinafter referred to as Intelligent Data Management Interface:
IDMI)) which allows to dynamically manage the essential device configuration p a
rameters (i.e., sampling rate and resolution) and also manage the effective channel uti
lization below the gateway level. This interface enables to effectively manage the way
in which the data is collected from field through sensors and transmit only the
necessary data to the higher layer, which will maximize the utilization of the available
network bandwidth.
[0023] Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a sensor system of an exemplary embodiment of
the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, a sensor system 10 of the exemplary em
bodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of sensors 100 that sense sensor
data with at least one configuration parameter, and an application 300 that sends a
control signal having at least one control command as a higher layer device. At least
one sensor 100 or all of the sensors 100 sense the sensor data with at least one con
figuration parameter dynamically set by a control command included in an IDMI
(Intelligent Data Management Interface) control signal.
[0024] The sensor system 10 further includes a gateway 200, a network infrastructure 210
and a network service provider 220. The sensor system 10 has an IDMI 400 in order to
dynamically manage the essential configuration parameters such as a sampling rate and
a resolution of the sensors 100. By this, the redundant data traffic can be reduced and
the energy utilization of the entire network from the sensors 100 up to the network can
be increased.
[0025] Firstly, the sensors 100 are explained hereinafter. Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram
showing the sensor 100 of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As
shown in Fig. 3, the sensor 100 includes a receiving part 101, a channel control part
102, a sensing part 103 and a protection part 104.
[0026] The receiving part 101 receives the IDMI control signal having at least one control
command. The sensing part 103 senses sensor data with at least one configuration
parameter dynamically set by the control command included in the IDMI control
signal.
[0027] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an IDMI control signal 410 of the exemplary
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 4, the IDMI control signal 410
includes a frequency control command 4 11, an accuracy control command 412, a
channel utilization command 413 and a protection command 414. Note that, though it
is assumed that the IDMI control signal 410 of the exemplary embodiment of the
present invention includes four kinds of commands, the IDMI control signal 410 may
not include all of those four commands. For example, the IDMI control signal 410 may
only include at least one of those four commands. By the commands included in the
IDMI control signal 410, one or more configuration parameters of the sensor 100 of
the sensor system 10 are dynamically changed and the sensor 100 can collect the
necessary sensor data even when the environment is suddenly changed.
[0028] The frequency control command 411 controls a frequency of the sensor data sensed
by the sensor 100. The accuracy control command 412 controls an accuracy of the
sensor data. The channel utilization command 413 tunes a channel bandwidth in full
duplex and half duplex. The protection command 414 shields the sensor system from
redundant junk data and/or a malicious packet. The control commands included in the
IDMI control signal are set in the higher layer device such as the gateway 200, the
network infrastructure 210 and the application 300 so that the configuration parameters
of the sensor data are dynamically changed depending on, for example, any one of an
environmental change, the rest of the energy, and a type of an application.
[0029] Return to the Fig. 3, the sensor 100 further includes the channel control part 102 that
tunes a channel bandwidth based on the channel utilization command 413. Further, the
sensor 100 includes the protection part 104 that protects the sensor system from
received data. That is, the protection part 104 shields the system from at least one of
redundant junk data and a malicious packet based on the protection command 414.
[0030] The sensing part 103 senses the sensor data with at least one frequency which is d y
namically set by the frequency control command 411 and an accuracy which is d y
namically set by the accuracy control command 412.
[0031] The sensor system 10 can simultaneously coordinate both the data acquisition and
data management functions with the IDMI control signal 410. That is, as the sensor
system 10 can dynamically tune the sampling rate and resolution of the sensor data, the
sensor system 10 can effectively collect and manage the sensor data in the field level.
Those configuration parameters are changed based on the user inputs as well as the
nature of the application in runtime. That is, the sensor system 10 can transmit only the
necessary and accurate data to a controller so as to make a quick decision.
[0032] Furthermore, the available channel bandwidth can effectively utilize by dynamically
changing the channel mode as Full duplex and half duplex. Therefore, the sensor
system 10 can increase energy utilization of the entire network (i.e., from sensor up to
the network level), increase the life time of the sensor node, and also maximize the
channel utilization when there is a need for optimizing the channel bandwidth uti
lization.
[0033] Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are schematic views showing examples of the device using IDMI
(hereinafter referred to as an IDMI device). The IDMI device is a higher layer device
of the sensors 100 and controls the sensor configuration parameters by using the IDMI
control signal 410. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the gateway
200 and the application 300 may be used as the IDMI device having the IDMI. When
the IDMI is realized in the Gateway 200 it provides the benefits of optimum bandwidth
utilizations.
[0034] As shown in Fig. 5, one example of the IDMI devices such as the application 300
includes an adaptive data sampler 301, a run time ADC (Analog to Digital Converter)
tuner 302, a channel configuration manager 303 and a protection system for higher
layer 304.
[0035] The adaptive data sampler 301 is used to dynamically change the frequency of the
sensor data. The accuracy of the sensor data can be dynamically varied by the run time
ADC tuner 302. The channel configuration manager 303 is used for maximizing the
channel utilization such as simplex for monitoring and duplex for controlling op
erations. The protection system for higher layer 304 is defined to shield the sensor
system from redundant junk data and malicious packet.
[0036] As shown in Fig. 6, another IDMI device such as a personal computer which sends
the IDMI control signal 410 to at least one of the plurality of the sensor 100. The
personal computer 310 includes an input part 3 11, a command setting part 312, an en
vironment change monitor 313 and a transmit-receive unit 314. The input part 3 11 is
input data to change the commands included in the IDMI control signal 410 from a
user. The command setting part 312 sets the commands included in the IDMI control
signal 410 by using the data input from the user. The environment change monitor 313
monitors change in the environment of the sensors 100 by using the sensor data.
[0037] If the sensor data value between two points of successive time drastically changes,
the environment change monitor 313 decides the sudden change of the environment is
happened and, for example, sends a control signal to the command setting part 312 in
order to change the sampling rate or the accuracy of the sensor data. The transmitreceive
unit 314 sends the IDMI control signal 410 to the sensors 100 through the
network infrastructure 210 and the gateway 200, and receives the sensor data from the
sensors 100.
[0038] Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing an application classification of the sensor system
of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 7, a horizontal axis
shows the number of bits of the sensor data, and a vertical axis shows a sampling
frequency of the sensor data in the sensor system. As shown in Fig. 7, a sensor ap
plication can be classified into four groups (Monitor AO, Reliable Al, Monitor and
control A2, Critical A3) based on the data accuracy requirements and the sampling
frequency requirements.
[0039] That is, when the sensor system 10 does not need sensor data with very high
accuracy and with very high sampling frequency, the sensor system 10 can adapt the
sensor data in the Monitor AO area. On the contrary, when the sensor system 10 needs
sensor data with high accuracy and high sampling frequency, the sensor system 10 can
adapt the sensor data in the Critical A3 area. Further, when the sensor system 10 needs
sensor data with only high sampling frequency or with only high accuracy, the sensor
system 10 can adapt the sensor data in the Monitor and control A2 area and in the
Reliable Al area respectively.
[0040] In an example of monitoring application, a plurality of sensor nodes are deployed to
collect data over a period of time to look for trends and seasonal behaviour of
particular locations. Typical environment parameters being monitored such as tem
perature, light intensity and humidity do not change quickly and do not have strict
latency requirement. This will fall under the application of Monitor.
[0041] In contrast, when these sensor nodes are deployed in a process automation industry to
monitor the temperature of a boiler or to monitor the pressure inside a chamber, then
the data should be transmitted from the sensor nodes more periodically with less
latency. This comes under the application of monitor and control.
[0042] When there is an occurrence of abnormal situation, then there is a need for an
interface to act according to the situation. The Intelligent Data Management interface
(IDMI) used for the sensor system of the exemplary embodiment of the present
invention is provided between the field sensors 100 and the gateway 200, or between
the field sensors 100 and application 300. In such a case, the user or the system needs
sampling data more frequently. Therefore, for example, the user inputs a new IDMI
control signal 410 to change a sampling frequency into higher one. Further, once the
situation is under control or fault is rectified, then the user can trigger the system to set
back the configuration parameters of the sensors 100 to the normal way to obtain data.
This will help to avoid adverse effects caused by a sudden increase of temperature.
[0043] According to the sensor system 10 of the exemplary embodiment, as the sensors 100
of the sensor system 10 can be controlled by the IDMI control signal 410, the sensors
100 can collect the sensor data with higher frequency. That is, the sensor system 10
can adapt to sudden change in the sensors' environment and the sensors 100 can be
used more efficiently, which can increase the life time of the sensors 100.
[0044] The details of the individual block of the IDMI device shown in Fig. 5 and the IDMI
control signal format to have the communication between the IDMI device and the
sensor nodes are explained below. Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of
the IDMI control signal format for dynamic configuration of the field level sensor
using the IDMI interface of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As
shown in Fig. 8, the IDMI control signal 410 includes one bit for the channel uti
lization command 413, two bits for the accuracy control command 412 and five bits for
the frequency control command 411.
[0045] The IDMI control signal 410 sets the configuration parameter of the sensor 100 and
also changes the channel transmission mode. On receiving these commands, the sensor
100 should configure themselves to act for the following scenario. Energy of the sensor
100 is definitely affected when there is a sudden change in its configuration parameters
and the way of containing data in critical scenarios. Though this change is a short-term
one, the sensor 100 should not deplete its energy resource drastically, which also need
to be taken into consideration.
[0046] (1) Run time ADC tuner 302:
ADC is a process of converting analog signals to digital signals. The accuracy of the
conversion depends on the resolution of the ADC. In the exemplary embodiment of the
present invention, the resolution can be adaptive and it is based on the type of ap
plication. For example, if an application needs high accurate data, then 32 bit
resolution ADC is needed. On the other hand, if an application needs less accurate
data, then 8 bit resolution ADC is enough. The number of bits to be transmitted
depends on the resolution.
[0047] Number of bits transmitted = log (resolution) to base 2
Tuning the resolution causes tuning of bits transmitted, which hence indirectly
change the bandwidth utilization. Fig. 9A, Fig. 9B and Fig. 9C are a schematic view
showing examples of the IDMI control signal format of the exemplary embodiment of
the present invention. Fig. 9A shows the control signal format for this operation, where
the digits BO and Bl are used for selecting four different resolutions. For example, in
this format, "00" corresponds to "4 bits", "01" corresponds to "8 bits", "10" cor
responds to "16 bits", and "11" corresponds to "32 bits".
[0048] (2) Adaptive data sampler 30 1:
Sampling is a process of converting analog signals to digital signals. Adaptive data
sampler 301 changes the frequency of sample. For example, if nature of the process is
changing rapidly with respect to time, then the sampling rate at which data to be
sampled should be high enough to capture the changes. If nature of the process does
not change, then the sampling rate should be low. This adaptation will be done with the
adaptive data sampler 301 by sending the IDMI control signal. The signal format is
shown in Fig. 9B, where the bits F0 to F4 is used for selecting 32 different sampling
frequencies.
[0049] (3) Channel configuration manager 303:
The function of the channel configuration manager 303 is to optimally utilize the
channel bandwidth based on the nature of the application. As shown in Fig. 9C, it
reserves one bit in the control signal format, which can tune the channel either in full
duplex (by setting CH bit as ) or in half duplex (by setting CH bit as 'O'). If the sensor
nodes are deployed for controlling the application, then CH bit is selected. If the
sensor nodes are deployed for monitoring the application, then CH bit '0' is selected.
These functions are mainly used in a wired sensor network, which enables the effective
utilization of the channel bandwidth.
[0050] (4) Protection system for higher layer 304:
The protection system for higher layer 304 decides whether the IDMI device receives
the sensor data of one or several specific sensors 100 or not, for example, to shield the
system from redundant junk data or a malicious packet.
[0051] Note that, the IDMI control signal 410 of the exemplary embodiment of the present
invention includes four kinds of commands, but commands included in the IDMI
control signal 410 are not limited to those four kinds of commands. For example, if the
sensor 100 has one or more functions such as a sensing function and a monitoring
function, a new command can be included in the IDMI control signal 410 and the
function of the sensor 100 can be changed depending on the situation by the new
command included in the IDMI control signal 410.
[0052] For example, in a normal state, a sensor A senses data of a temperature of the environment,
and in an abnormal situation, for example, if the IDMI device finds that
there is something wrong with a behavior of a sensor B which is adjacent to the sensor
A, then the IDMI device sends the IDMI control signal 410 including the new
command to the sensor A to change the sensing function into the monitoring function.
Then the IDMI device can get the information about the sensor B from the monitoring
result of the sensor A. If the IDMI device finds the sensor B has a real problem, the
IDMI device can isolate the sensor B from the sensor network.
[0053] Fig. 10 is a flow chart showing a method for controlling the sensor system of an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 10, assume that the
application 300 sets a control commands for a normal operation (Step 1), and then
collects the sensor data, for example, temperature data of a boiler room from the
sensors 100 placed in the boiler room (Step 2). The application 300 compares a current
data with the previous data, and if the difference between them becomes larger than a
threshold, the application 300 decides there is something wrong in the boiler room
(Step 3: Yes). In this case, for example, the application 300 triggers an alarm or
displays a warning on a screen of the application 300 to notify a user that something
happened in the boiler room. If the user notices this alarm, the user inputs a new
control signal having a new command to the application 300 and the application 300
sends the new control signal to change the configuration parameter of the sensor so as
to be able to monitor the temperature more frequently and with larger resolution (Step
4).
[0054] As the sensors 100 can sense the sensor data with the higher frequency and the larger
resolution than the normal state, the application 300 can collect the sensor data with
higher accuracy than the normal state (Step 5). Thus the application 300 can get the
necessary sensor data so as to be able to monitor the boiler room in such an emergency
situation. Note that, the application 300 may automatically generate a new control
signal by itself based on the result of the comparison between current data and the
previous data.
[0055] After that, if the application 300 continues monitoring the sensor data, and finds the
sensor data become a normal data or finds the difference between a current data and
the previous data becomes equal to or smaller than the threshold, the application 300
decides the situation is back to a normal state (Step 6: Yes). In this case, the ap
plication 300 displays the signal in the screen to notify the user of it. When the user
knows the situation becomes stable or the boiler temperature returns to a normal value
by the signal, the user inputs a new control signal to change a frequency and a
resolution into an initial value (Step 1). Note that, as described above, the application
300 may automatically generate a new control signal by itself based on the result of the
comparison of the sensor data. As the sensors 100 sense the sensor data with a normal
frequency and resolution, the application 300 can collect the necessary sensor data of
the sensors 100 to monitor the boiler room without receiving redundant sensor data.
[0056] Note that when the difference between the current data and the previous data is equal
to or less than the threshold when the application 300 collects the sensor data in the
Step 2 and compares the current data with the previous data, the application 300
returns to the process in the Step 2 (Step 3: No). Further, when the difference between
the current data and the previous data is greater than the threshold after the application
300 collects the sensor data in the Step 5, the application 300 returns to the process in
the Step 4 (Step 6: No).
[0057] According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the sensors of the
sensor system can be effectively managed so that the sensor data is collected from field
and only the necessary data is transmitted to the higher layer, which will maximize the
utilization of the available network bandwidth. That is, by applying the new interface,
IDMI, the sensor system can reduce the redundant data traffic and increase energy uti
lization of the entire network (i.e., from sensor up to the network level). Further, the
sensor system of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention can increase the
life time of the sensor node and maximizes the channel utilization when there is a need
for optimizing the channel bandwidth utilization.
[0058] Next, another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained. Fig.
11 is a schematic view showing an IoT (Internet of Things) Reference Architecture
with lightweight requirements. As shown in Fig. 11, the Lightweight Restful ar
chitecture includes Web services such as applications 350, a Lightweight authen
tication such as a service platform 360 and a secured communication channel such as
IoT core network 260. The service platform is connected to a lightweight device
management such as a gateway 250, and a Lightweight communication across devices
such as sensors/devices 150 are connected to the gateway 250 through a Lightweight
authentication and secured communication such as II. The IoT core network 260 is
connected to the service platform 360 through 12, and the service platform 360 is
connected to the applications 350 through 13.
[0059] This exemplary embodiment aims to define the detailed I I interface functionalities of
Light weight IoT Reference Architecture. This exemplary embodiment also provides a
method to efficiently handle the IoT device management and IoT Gateway
Management by introducing some intelligence at the Gateway level.
[0060] The exemplary embodiment focuses on defining the lib capabilities and func
tionalities. As the existing Light weight IoT baseline architecture specifies the lib
should have the following capabilities, such as Device specific management functions
such as sensor sampling configuration, security settings, device registration, device
health check, firmware upgrade etc will be done through this IDMI interface. The
exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides the dynamic interface func
tionalities which can be a part of lib be capabilities.
[0061] As described in Fig. 7, IoT applications can be classified into four groups (Monitor,
Reliable, Monitor and control, Critical) based on the data accuracy requirements and
the sampling frequency requirements. In an example of a monitoring application, the
sensor nodes are deployed in the field to collect data over a period of time to look for
trends and seasonal behaviour of particular locations. Typical environment parameters
being monitored, such as temperature, light intensity, and humidity which does not
change quickly and these do not have strict latency requirement. In this case, the sensor
nodes should use configuration parameters in Monitor AOarea.
[0062] In contrary when these sensor nodes are deployed in a process automation industry,
to monitor the temperature of a boiler or to monitor for a pressure inside a chamber,
then the data from the sensor nodes should be more periodic with less latency to
transmission. In this case, the sensor nodes should use configuration parameters in the
monitor and control kind A2 area. When there is an occurrence of abnormal situation,
then there is the need for an interface to act according to the situation.
[0063] Most of the method of Related Art manages the data at the gateway level. As
described above, still there is heavy data traffic below the gateway level where there is
lack of available bandwidth in case of wireless sensor network. Therefore there is need
of dynamic data management below the gateway so as to maximize the bandwidth uti
lization as well as the energy efficiency (i.e., increasing the life time of the sensor) of
the sensor nodes.
[0064] According to the exemplary embodiment, the new dynamic data management
interface (IDMI) in between the field sensor and the gateway allows dynamically
managing the essential device configuration parameters (i.e., sampling rate and
resolution) and also managing the effective channel utilization below the gateway
level. These interface functionalities will be added to the lib capabilities discussed in
the IoT baseline architecture documents.
[0065] Fig. 12 is a schematic view showing a modified gateway with dynamic data
management interface of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As
shown in Fig. 12, the configuration parameters in the sensor nodes 150 will be d y
namically handled and changed by the new interface IDMI having the additional func
tionality of a runtime ADC tuner 261, a channel configuration manager 262, an
adaptive date sampler 263, and a protection system for higher layer 264. The con
figuration parameters of the sensor nodes 150 of the exemplary embodiment will be
completely controlled by the control signal generated by the gateway 250 as well as
from the application. The control Signal will be generated in three ways.
1) Trigger from the Application
2) Trigger by the user
3) Trigger generated by the IDMI functionality
[0066] A control signal handler 251 in the gateway 250 and a control signal handler 151 in
the sensor nodes 150 handle a control signal which includes control commands to set
the configuration parameters of the sensor nodes 150.
[0067] The benefits of the new functional capabilities in the lib interface of the exemplary
embodiment are as follows.
1) To reduce a redundant data traffic and to increase an energy utilization of the
entire network (i.e., from sensor up to the network level)
2) To increase a life time of the sensor node
3) To maximize the channel utilization where there is a need for optimizing the
channel bandwidth utilization.
[0068] Further, the scope of the claims is not limited by the exemplary embodiments
described above.
[0069] Furthermore, it is noted that, Applicants' intent is to encompass equivalents of all
claim elements, even if amended later during prosecution.
[0070] For example, in the above exemplary embodiment, an arbitrary processing can be
achieved by executing a program by CPU (Central Processing Unit). The program can
be stored and provided to a computer using any type of non-transitory computer
readable media. Non-transitory computer readable media include any type of tangible
storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer readable media include magnetic
storage media (such as floppy disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, etc.), optical
magnetic storage media (e.g. magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (compact disc read
only memory), CD-R (compact disc recordable), CD-R/W (compact disc rewritable),
and semiconductor memories (such as mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM),
EPROM (erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory), etc.). The
program may be provided to a computer using any type of transitory computer
readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electric
signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. Transitory computer readable
media can provide the program to a computer via a wired communication line (e.g.
electric wires, and optical fibers) or a wireless communication line.
[0071] Further, the whole or part of the exemplary embodiments disclosed above can be
described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.
(Supplementary note 1)
A sensor which is used for a sensor system including a plurality of sensors and a
higher layer device of the sensor, comprising:
a receiving part that receives a control signal having at least one control command,
the control signal being sent from the higher layer device, and
a sensing part that senses sensor data with at least one configuration parameter d y
namically set by the control command.
(Supplementary note 2)
The sensor according to Supplementary note 1, wherein the control signal incudes at
least one of a frequency control command and an accuracy control command, and the
sensing part sense the sensor data with at least one of a frequency being dynamically
set by the frequency control command and an accuracy being dynamically set by the
accuracy control command.
(Supplementary note 3)
The sensor according to Supplementary note 2, further comprising:
a channel control part that optimizes an utilization of a channel bandwidth, wherein
the control signal further includes a channel utilization command, and the channel
control part tunes a channel bandwidth based on the channel utilization command.
(Supplementary note 4)
The sensor according to Supplementary note 3, wherein the channel control part tunes
a channel bandwidth in any one of full duplex and half duplex based on the channel
utilization command.
(Supplementary note 5)
The sensor according to any one of Supplementary notes 1-4, further comprising:
a protection part that protects a system of the sensor from received data, wherein
the control signal includes a protection command and the protection part shields the
system from at least one of redundant junk data and a malicious packet based on the
protection command.
(Supplementary note 6)
The sensor according to any one of Supplementary notes 1-5, wherein the control
command included in the control signal is set in the higher layer device so that the con
figuration parameters of the sensor data are dynamically changed depending on at least
any one of an environmental change, a rest of an energy resource, and a type of an ap
plication.
(Supplementary note 7)
A sensor system comprising:
a plurality of sensors that senses sensor data with at least one configuration parameter,
and
a higher layer device that sends a control signal having at least one control command,
wherein at least one sensor senses data with at least one configuration parameter d y
namically set by the control command included in the control signal.
(Supplementary note 8)
The sensor system according to Supplementary note 7, wherein the control signal
includes at least one of a frequency control command and an accuracy control
command, and the at least one of the plurality of the sensors senses data with at least
one of a frequency being dynamically set by the frequency control command and an
accuracy being dynamically set by the accuracy control command.
(Supplementary note 9)
The sensor system according to Supplementary note 8, wherein the control signal
further includes a channel utilization command and the at least one of the plurality of
the sensors optimizes a channel bandwidth based on the channel utilization command.
(Supplementary note 10)
The sensor system according to Supplementary note 9, wherein more than one of the
plurality of the sensors tunes a channel bandwidth in any one of full duplex and half
duplex based on the channel utilization command.
(Supplementary note 11)
The sensor system according to any one of Supplementary notes 7-10, wherein
the control signal includes a protection command and the at least one of the plurality of
the sensors shields a system of the sensor from at least one of redundant junk data and
a malicious packet based on the protection command.
(Supplementary note 12)
The sensor system according to any one of Supplementary notes 7-11, wherein the
control command included in the control signal is set in the higher layer device so that
the configuration parameters of the sensor data are dynamically changed depending on
at least any one of an environmental change, a rest of an energy resource, and a type of
an application.
(Supplementary note 13)
The sensor system according to any one of Supplementary notes 7-12, wherein the
higher layer device is a computer being entered data into by a user to set the control
command included in the control signal.
(Supplementary note 14)
The sensor system according to any one of Supplementary notes 7-13, wherein the
higher layer device is a gateway inputting and outputting the sensor data from the
sensor.
(Supplementary note 15)
A method of controlling at least one of a plurality of sensors included in a sensor
system, comprising:
a receiving step that receives a control signal having at least one control command, the
control signal being sent by a higher layer device of the sensor, and
a sensing step that senses sensor data with at least one configuration parameter d y
namically set by the control command included in the control signal.
(Supplementary note 16)
The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors of the sensor
system according to Supplementary note 15, wherein the control signal includes at
least one of a frequency control command and an accuracy control command, and the
sensing step sense the sensor data with at least one of a frequency being dynamically
set by the frequency control command and an accuracy being dynamically set by the
accuracy control command.
(Supplementary note 17)
The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors of the sensor
system according to Supplementary note 16, further comprising:
a channel control step that optimizes an utilization of a channel bandwidth, wherein
the control signal further includes a channel utilization command, and the channel
control step tunes a channel bandwidth based on the channel utilization command
included in the control signal.
(Supplementary note 18)
The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors of the sensor
system according to Supplementary note 17, wherein the channel control step tunes a
channel bandwidth in any one of full duplex and half duplex based on the channel uti
lization command in the control signal.
(Supplementary note 19)
The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors of the sensor
system according to any one of Supplementary notes 15-18, further comprising:
a protection step that protects a system of the sensor from received data, wherein
the control signal includes a protection command and the protection step shields the
system from at least one of redundant junk data and a malicious packet based on the
protection command.
(Supplementary note 20)
The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors of the sensor
system according to any one of Supplementary notes 15-19, wherein the control
command included in the control signal is set in the higher layer device so that the con
figuration parameters of the sensor data are dynamically changed depending on at least
any one of an environmental change, a rest of an energy resource, and a type of an ap
plication.
(Supplementary note 21)
An interface used for a sensor system including a plurality of sensors and a higher
layer device of the sensor, comprising at least one of:
a frequency command that dynamically sets a frequency of sensor data sensed by at
least one of the plurality of the sensors, and
an accuracy control command that dynamically sets an accuracy of sensor data sensed
by the at least one of the plurality of the sensors.
(Supplementary note 22)
A method of controlling a sensor system including a plurality of sensors and a higher
layer device of the sensor, comprising :
first collecting step that collects sensor data from the plurality of sensors;
first finding step that finds there is something wrong in a sensor's surroundings;
changing step that changes a control command included in a control signal in order to
set a new configuration parameter of at least one sensor, and that sends the control
signal to the at least one sensor;
second collecting step that collects sensor data from the at least one sensor with the
new configuration parameter been set by the control signal sent by the higher layer
device;
second finding step that finds a situation backs to a normal state, and that sends a
control signal to the at least one sensor to reset the configuration parameters.
[0072] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent
application No.20 13-042332, filed on March 4, 2013, the disclosure of which is in
corporated herein in its entirely by reference.
Reference Signs List
[0073] 10 SENSOR SYSTEM
100 SENSOR
101 RECEIVING PART
102 CHANNEL CONTROL PART
103 SENSING PART
104 PROTECTION PART
150 SENSOR/DEVICES
151 CONTROL SIGNAL HANDLER
200 GATEWAY
210 NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
220 NETWORK SERVICE PROVIDER
250 GATEWAY
251 CONTROL SIGNAL HANDLER
260 IOT CORE NETWORK
261 RUNTIME ADC TUNER
262 CHANNEL CONFIGURATION MANAGER
263 ADAPTIVE DATE SAMPLER
264 PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR HIGHER LAYER
300 APPLICATION (IDMI DEVICE)
301 ADAPTIVE DATA SAMPLER
302 RUN TIME ADC TUNER
303 CHANNEL CONFIGURATION MANAGER
304 PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR HIGHER LAYER
310 PERSONAL COMPUTER (IDMI DEVICE)
311 INPUT PART
312 COMMAND SETTING PART
313 ENVIRONMENT CHANGE MONITOR
314 TRANSMIT-RECEIVE UNIT
350 APPLICATIONS
360 SERVICE PLATFORM
400 IDMI
410 IDMI CONTROL SIGNAL
411 FREQUENCY CONTROL COMMAND
412 ACCURACY CONTROL COMMAND
413 CHANNEL UTILIZATION COMMAND
414 PROTECTION COMMAND
1000 SENSOR NETWORK
1100 SENSORS
1200 GATEWAY
1210 NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
1220 NETWORK SERVICE PROVIDER
1300 APPLICATION

Claims
A sensor which is used for a sensor system including a plurality of
sensors and a higher layer device of the sensor, comprising:
a receiving means for receiving a control signal having at least one
control command, the control signal being sent from the higher layer
device, and
a sensing means for sensing sensor data with at least one configuration
parameter dynamically set by the control command.
The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the control signal includes at
least one of a frequency control command and an accuracy control
command, and the sensing means sense the sensor data with at least one
of a frequency being dynamically set by the frequency control
command and an accuracy being dynamically set by the accuracy
control command.
The sensor according to claim 2, further comprising:
a channel control means for optimizing an utilization of a channel
bandwidth, wherein
the control signal further includes a channel utilization command, and
the channel control means tunes a channel bandwidth based on the
channel utilization command.
The sensor according to claim 3, wherein the channel control means
tunes a channel bandwidth in any one of full duplex and half duplex
based on the channel utilization command.
The sensor according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:
a protection means for protecting a system of the sensor from received
data, wherein
the control signal includes a protection command and the protection
means shields the system from at least one of redundant junk data and a
malicious packet based on the protection command.
The sensor according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the control
command included in the control signal is set in the higher layer device
so that the configuration parameters of the sensor data are dynamically
changed depending on at least any one of an environmental change, a
rest of an energy resource, and a type of an application.
A sensor system comprising:
a plurality of sensors that senses sensor data with at least one con
figuration parameter, and
PCT7JP2014/000996
a higher layer device that sends a control signal having at least one
control command,
wherein at least one sensor senses data with at least one configuration
parameter dynamically set by the control command included in the
control signal.
The sensor system according to claim 7, wherein the control signal
includes at least one of a frequency control command and an accuracy
control command, and the at least one of the plurality of the sensors
senses data with at least one of a frequency being dynamically set by
the frequency control command and an accuracy being dynamically set
by the accuracy control command.
The sensor system according to claim 8, wherein the control signal
further includes a channel utilization command and the at least one of
the plurality of the sensors optimizes a channel bandwidth based on the
channel utilization command.
The sensor system according to claim 9, wherein more than one of the
plurality of the sensors tunes a channel bandwidth in any one of full
duplex and half duplex based on the channel utilization command.
The sensor system according to any one of claims 7-10, wherein
the control signal includes a protection command and the at least one of
the plurality of the sensors shields a system of the sensor from at least
one of redundant junk data and a malicious packet based on the
protection command.
The sensor system according to any one of claims 7-11, wherein the
control command included in the control signal is set in the higher layer
device so that the configuration parameters of the sensor data are d y
namically changed depending on at least any one of an environmental
change, a rest of an energy resource, and a type of an application.
The sensor system according to any one of claims 7-12, wherein the
higher layer device is a computer being entered data into by a user to
set the control command included in the control signal.
The sensor system according to any one of claims 7-13, wherein the
higher layer device is a gateway inputting and outputting the sensor
data from the sensor.
A method of controlling at least one of a plurality of sensors included
in a sensor system, comprising:
receiving a control signal having at least one control command, the
control signal being sent by a higher layer device of the sensor, and
WO 2014/136401 PCT/JP2014/000996
sensing sensor data with at least one configuration parameter d y
namically set by the control command included in the control signal.
[Claim 16] The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors
of the sensor system according to claim 15, wherein the control signal
includes at least one of a frequency control command and an accuracy
control command, and the sensing sensor data with at least one con
figuration parameter dynamically set by the control command included
in the control signal sense the sensor data with at least one of a
frequency being dynamically set by the frequency control command
and an accuracy being dynamically set by the accuracy control
command.
[Claim 17] The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors
of the sensor system according to claim 16, further comprising:
optimizing an utilization of a channel bandwidth, wherein
the control signal further includes a channel utilization command, and
the optimizing an utilization of a channel bandwidth tunes a channel
bandwidth based on the channel utilization command included in the
control signal.
[Claim 18] The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors
of the sensor system according to claim 17, wherein the optimizing an
utilization of a channel bandwidth tunes a channel bandwidth in any
one of full duplex and half duplex based on the channel utilization
command in the control signal.
[Claim 19] The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors
of the sensor system according to any one of claims 15-18, further
comprising:
protecting a system of the sensor from received data, wherein
the control signal includes a protection command and the protecting a
system of the sensor from received data shields the system from at least
one of redundant junk data and a malicious packet based on the
protection command.
[Claim 20] The method of controlling the at least one of the plurality of the sensors
of the sensor system according to any one of claims 15-19, wherein the
control command included in the control signal is set in the higher layer
device so that the configuration parameters of the sensor data are d y
namically changed depending on at least any one of an environmental
change, a rest of an energy resource, and a type of an application.
[Claim 21] An interface used for a sensor system including a plurality of sensors
WO 2014/136401 PCT/JP2014/000996
and a higher layer device of the sensor, comprising at least one of:
a frequency command that dynamically sets a frequency of sensor data
sensed by at least one of the plurality of the sensors, and
an accuracy control command that dynamically sets an accuracy of
sensor data sensed by the at least one of the plurality of the sensors.
[Claim 22] A method of controlling a sensor system including a plurality of
sensors and a higher layer device of the sensor, comprising :
collecting sensor data from the plurality of sensors;
finding there is something wrong in a sensor's surroundings;
changing a control command included in a control signal in order to set
a new configuration parameter of at least one sensor, and that sends the
control signal to the at least one sensor;
collecting sensor data from the at least one sensor with the new con
figuration parameter been set by the control signal sent by the higher
layer device;
finding a situation backs to a normal state, and that sends a control
signal to the at least one sensor to reset the configuration parameters.