Method of managing sensor network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016142160-A1
Application number	US-201514928319-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 30, 2015
Priority date	Nov 3, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An environmental sensor system comprises a plurality of sensor clusters. The sensor coupler of each sensor cluster obtains measurements parameters from the sensors, performs processing on the measurements to obtain at least one result, and forwards information from the measurements to the calibrator coordinator. The calibrator coordinator performs processing on the information received from all of the sensor clusters to obtain at least one result, and feeds back the result to the sensor clusters which then assess sensor reliability and accuracy. The first and second results indicate expected parameter values, and each sensor coupler decides whether, and how, to incorporate the measurements of sensors into the first processing based on the expected values. The sensor coupler may calibrate, decommission or replace sensors determined to be unreliable based on the expected values.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of managing a sensor network, comprising:
providing a plurality of sensor clusters, each sensor cluster having a plurality of sensors, and a calibrator coordinator in communication with the sensor clusters; at each sensor cluster, obtaining measurements of values of one or more parameters from the sensors, performing first processing on the measurements to obtain at least one first result, and forwarding information to the calibrator coordinator; at the calibrator coordinator, performing second processing on the information received from the sensor clusters to obtain at least one second result, and feeding back the second result to the sensor clusters; and at each sensor cluster, assessing reliability of the sensors by employing the first result and second result.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the information forwarded to the calibrator coordinator includes at least one of:
the measurements from each of the sensors among said plurality of sensors assessed as reliable; and a best estimate value of the one or more parameters.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second result comprises at least one of:
best estimate values of the one or more parameters at locations of the sensors in the sensor clusters; and an instruction to one of calibrate and decommission at least one of the sensors.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein one of the first processing and the second processing comprises sensor fusion of measurements from the sensors, using predicted values to determine whether the measurements have values within an expected range.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the assessing further comprises, at each sensor cluster, determining an environment-dependent performance degradation of each sensor, and when indicated by the determination, excluding future measurement values of a sensor from the information sent to the calibrator coordinator.

6 . The method according to claim, 4 further comprising, at each sensor cluster, placing a sensor in a calibration mode in dependence on said assessing, in which mode the sensor continues to make measurements with such measurements excluded from the information sent to the calibrator coordinator.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , further comprising, at each sensor cluster, finding an effect of calibration upon measurements from the sensor by employing the one of the first result and the second result, and in dependence on the effect found:
one of:
leaving the sensor in calibration mode; and
placing the sensor in a measurement mode in which measurements are included in the information sent to the calibrator coordinator; and
placing the sensor in a decommissioned mode in which no further measurements are obtained from the sensor.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein finding the effect of calibration includes comparing the measurements with values expected based on one of the first result and second result, the sensor being placed in the measurement mode when a predetermined number of successive measurements match values expected.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second processing comprises data fusion employing the information from the sensor clusters to update a system model of which the one or more parameters are characteristics, the second result including an estimate of values of the one or more parameters for each sensor.

10 . A sensor network, comprising:
a plurality of sensor clusters, each sensor cluster having a plurality of sensors and a sensor coupler, and a calibrator coordinator in communication with the sensor clusters; wherein:
the sensor coupler of each sensor cluster is arranged to obtain measurements of values of one or more parameters from the sensors, to perform first processing on the measurements to obtain at least one first result, and to forward information to the calibrator coordinator; and
the calibrator coordinator is arranged to perform second processing on the information received from the sensor clusters to obtain at least one second result, and to feed back the second result to the sensor clusters;
wherein in each sensor cluster, the sensor coupler is arranged to employ the first result and second result to assess reliability of the sensors.

11 . An apparatus for use as a sensor coupler in a sensor system, the apparatus comprising:
receiving means connected to a plurality of sensors forming a cluster, and arranged to obtain measurements of values of one or more parameters from the sensors; and processing means arranged to perform processing of the measurements to obtain at least one first result, and to forward information to an external apparatus; and wherein the receiving means is further arranged to receive from the external apparatus a second result derived using the information; and the processing means is arranged to employ the first and second results to assess reliability of the sensors.

12 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein said processing comprises sensor fusion of said measurements on a basis of an expected system state indicated by one of the first result and the second result, the processing means detecting a problem with a sensor on the basis of discrepancy between a measurement and values of the one or more parameters implied by the expected system state.

13 . An apparatus for use as a calibrator coordinator in a sensor system, the sensor system comprising a plurality of sensor clusters each having a plurality of sensors, and the apparatus comprising:
receiving means connected to each of the sensor clusters to receive information from the sensor clusters; processing means arranged to perform processing of the information to obtain at least one processing result indicative of reliability of a specific sensor in a sensor cluster; and transmitting means arranged to transmit a message to the sensor cluster for one of calibrating and decommissioning the specific sensor.

14 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording media storing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by processors of networked computing devices, perform the method according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Fujitsu Ltd

Inventors

• Walker Brent
• Li Michael

Classifications

• H04L69/40

  for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection (management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06) · CPC title

• H04B17/11 Primary

  for calibration · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04W4/38

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title