5031 results about "Sensor node" patented technology

A “Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller” includes a plurality of Electromyography (EMG) sensors and provides a wired or wireless human-computer interface (HCl) for interacting with computing systems and attached devices via electrical signals generated by specific movement of the user's muscles. Following initial automated self-calibration and positional localization processes, measurement and interpretation of muscle generated electrical signals is accomplished by sampling signals from the EMG sensors of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. In operation, the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller is donned by the user and placed into a coarsely approximate position on the surface of the user's skin. Automated cues or instructions are then provided to the user for fine-tuning placement of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. Examples of Wearable Electromyography-Based Controllers include articles of manufacture, such as an armband, wristwatch, or article of clothing having a plurality of integrated EMG-based sensor nodes and associated electronics.

A real-time body status monitoring system (RBMS) is presented in this invention. A wearable monitoring apparatus (WMA) worn by users consists of one or a few sensor nodes and a computing module. Sensor nodes communicate with the computing module via either wired or wireless protocols. RBMS incorporates a monitoring center that connects and serves many WMAs. Together with the sensors and context-aware information fusion and analysis, the system in the invention goes beyond sampling rare events that may be of profound diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic importance. It measures the physiological responses to therapeutic interventions during daily activities, which constitute direct and practical health indicators for the patient.

A parking guidance system tracks available parking spaces and leads users to vacant spots through display boards placed at strategic locations in the parking lot. Sensor nodes are deployed at parking spaces or within traffic lanes to monitor parking space occupancy and wirelessly transmit this information. The sensor nodes form a wireless network that routes the knowledge of available spaces to the corresponding display boards and updates them in real time. Parking availability information may also be shared with users in a variety of other ways such as through the Internet, personal digital assistants, computers, mobile telephones, in-vehicle dashboards, and others.

Embedded piezoelectric sensors in large civil structures for structural health monitoring applications require data communication capabilities to effectively transmit information regarding the structure's integrity between sensor nodes and to the central processing unit. Conventional communication modalities include electromagnetic waves or acoustical waves. While guided elastic waves can propagate over long distances on solid structures, their multi-modal and dispersive characteristics make it difficult to interpret the channel responses and to transfer useful information along pipes. Time reversal is an adaptive transmission method that can improve the spatiotemporal wave focusing. The present disclosure presents the basic principles of a time reversal based pulse position modulation (TR-PPM) method and demonstrates TR-PPM data communication by simulation. The present disclosure also experimentally demonstrates data communication with TR-PPM on pipes. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate that TR-PPM for data communications can be achieved successfully using guided elastic waves.

An attribute value of a matter accompanied by a sensor is transmissibly accessible in a sensor node system constituted by wireless terminal computers having the sensor, the wireless communication base stations and server computers. The wireless terminal computer reports at the time of wireless communication an identification number of a wireless communication base station with which it communicates previously. A relay processing service is dynamically constituted so that when a wireless communication base station different from itself is reported, the wireless base station as the communication counter-part can transmissbly look up the wireless terminal computer from a host computer.

The present invention relates to a sensor network having node architecture for performing trust management of neighboring sensor nodes, and to an adaptive method for performing trust management of neighboring sensor nodes for monitoring security in the sensor network. The sensor network includes a base station and a plurality of sensor nodes for reporting sensed information packets to the base station through radiofrequency signals relayed by other sensor nodes. A judge sensor node may have a trust estimator in its node architecture to evaluate trustworthiness of a neighboring suspect sensor node by determining a personal reference and receiving personal references from jury sensor nodes. Based on the trustworthiness of the suspect, the judge may modify a route for transmitting packets to the base station.

A “Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller” includes a plurality of Electromyography (EMG) sensors and provides a wired or wireless human-computer interface (HCl) for interacting with computing systems and attached devices via electrical signals generated by specific movement of the user's muscles. Following initial automated self-calibration and positional localization processes, measurement and interpretation of muscle generated electrical signals is accomplished by sampling signals from the EMG sensors of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. In operation, the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller is donned by the user and placed into a coarsely approximate position on the surface of the user's skin. Automated cues or instructions are then provided to the user for fine-tuning placement of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. Examples of Wearable Electromyography-Based Controllers include articles of manufacture, such as an armband, wristwatch, or article of clothing having a plurality of integrated EMG-based sensor nodes and associated electronics.

Methods and apparatus for global wireless sensor network architecture and protocol for remote supervision, asset control and operational management based on localized clusters of autonomous sensor / supervision / operational sensor nodes capable of ad hoc interconnection with nearby nodes and connection to gateway nodes with increased network functionality. These localized cluster nodes send data to gateway nodes either directly or through multi-hop transactions. The gateway nodes are, in turn, connected to other gateway nodes and operations control centers either through wireless or wired data communications links. Utilizing the Internet for long range interconnectivity, the network is scaleable to a global level. The resulting network is based on an ad hoc mesh topology to allow flexibility in network modification and expansion and is comprised of a tiered structure defined by increasing functionality. A current application for this technology is the remote control and supervision of lighting systems for facilities and municipalities on a local, national and / or global basis from centralized regional operations centers.

Methods and apparatus for a multi-waveform wireless sensor network based on widely distributed sensor nodes operating in wireless local area networks and gateway connection to an operations center via wide area network protocol. The scaleable network consists of a tiered structure of sensor nodes within wireless local area networks using an ad hoc protocol to form the network and at least one gateway node within each LAN to provide a link to an operations center. The sensor network can be used to detect and track Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high-yield Explosive events.

Apparatus and methods related providing city services, such as parking, are described. A mobile device can be configured to receive information from local sensor nodes, such as parking sensor nodes, in the vicinity of the mobile device. In a parking application, the mobile device located in a moving vehicle can be configured to locate available parking based upon the information received from the parking sensor nodes. In other embodiments, the mobile device can be utilized in a retail establishment in conjunction with a remote server to display eye-level image data taken at various locations throughout the retail establishment. The eye-level image data can include products displayed throughout the retail establishment and can be augmented with one or more indicators that indicate product placement locations associated with the products.

A method, system and mobile sensor node monitor a supply chain monitoring. A communication network is established which includes a plurality of mobile sensor nodes. Status information for each mobile sensor node is periodically transmitted. Each mobile sensor node receives status information for at least one other mobile sensor node in the communication network. A log file which includes the received status information is compiled and stored in the mobile sensor node that received the corresponding status information.

A “Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller” includes a plurality of Electromyography (EMG) sensors and provides a wired or wireless human-computer interface (HCl) for interacting with computing systems and attached devices via electrical signals generated by specific movement of the user's muscles. Following initial automated self-calibration and positional localization processes, measurement and interpretation of muscle generated electrical signals is accomplished by sampling signals from the EMG sensors of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. In operation, the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller is donned by the user and placed into a coarsely approximate position on the surface of the user's skin. Automated cues or instructions are then provided to the user for fine-tuning placement of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. Examples of Wearable Electromyography-Based Controllers include articles of manufacture, such as an armband, wristwatch, or article of clothing having a plurality of integrated EMG-based sensor nodes and associated electronics.

A power efficient system architecture that exploits the characteristics of sensor networks in order to decrease the power consumption in the network. The primary characteristic of sensor networks is that the destination of all the data packets in the network is a central data collector and this central data collector, which is usually denoted as access point (AP), has unlimited transmission power and energy whereas the sensor nodes have limited battery energy and transmission power. The system uses the AP to directly synchronize and explicitly schedule the nodes' transmissions over Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) time slots.

Provided are an intelligent parking guidance apparatus and method. The intelligent parking guidance apparatus includes: an image sensor node recognizing a vehicle number of a vehicle, sensor nodes determining whether the vehicle exists in their own positions, a parking management server generating information for guiding the vehicle to an available parking space, and a mobile communication terminal receiving the information. The intelligent parking guidance apparatus and method provide information regarding parking lots which are within a predetermined distance from a destination and available parking spaces of each parking lot, to a driver, as well as provide a road guidance service to the driver to guide his / her vehicle to the destination, so that the driver can select an optimal parking lot. Also, when the vehicle enters the parking lot, the intelligent parking guidance apparatus and method guide the driver to an available empty parking space, thereby reducing difficulties in finding a parking space in a place which is unfamiliar to the driver.

A protocol for optimizing the energy for code upload to sensors in a wireless sensor network and speeding up the dissemination if multiple sources of code are available. Energy optimization is achieved by equipping each node with limited non-local topology information, which it uses to determine the time when it can go to sleep since code is not being distributed in its vicinity. Another aspect of the invention is a protocol that facilitates secure upload of code in the wireless sensor network. The secure communication protocol divides the sensor field into control groups each with a control node, and manages data exchange between nodes within a control group through the mediation of a control head which provides the common key. The keys are refreshed periodically and the control nodes are changed periodically to enhance security. The protocol facilitates secure communication between sensor nodes despite the compromise of any number of other nodes in the network.

A method of self-organizing sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network (WSN); a method of localizing mobile nodes in a WSN; and a method of self-calibrating a WSN are disclosed. The method of self-organizing sensor nodes in a WSN includes configuring sensor nodes to in turn broadcast consecutive messages at a plurality of pre-defined and incrementally increasing power levels; detecting receipt of the broadcasted messages at each of the sensor nodes and notifying a master node as to the identity of each sensor node receiving the broadcasted message and the power level at which it was received to define a detected neighbourhood for each sensor node; determining relative locations of sensor nodes with the detected neighbourhoods; and mapping relative locations of the sensor nodes by the master node based on results of the neighborhood detection and known locations of two anchor nodes.

A sensor node arrangement in a wireless network, includes a sensor to sense information, an RF transceiver to communicate the information to at least one element of the wireless network, and a coil to establish a secondary communications channel with a handheld device via inductive coupling, the secondary communications channel used, for example, to receive, during installation of the sensor node arrangement, a node identifier of the sensor node arrangement.

A sensor network system with its ability to specify the position of a terminal is disclosed. This system includes a locator node operative to catch a communication of a sensor node. Using this locator node, a present position of the sensor node is specified, thereby permitting services to be done based on the sensor node's position and ID information. A node position specifying method for use in the network system is also disclosed.

A system to monitor the health of a structure, sensor nodes, program product, and associated methods are provided. The system includes an array of health monitoring sensor nodes connected to or embedded within a structure to monitor the health of the structure. The health monitoring sensor nodes include sensor elements positioned to sense parameters of the structure and to provide data related to the parameters to a health monitoring sensor node data collector. The sensor nodes can each include an energy harvester to harvest energy to power the sensor node. The system also includes an energy distributing node positioned to provide energy to the sensor nodes, through the structure being monitored, to be harvested by energy harvester of the sensor nodes.

An improved network of sensor nodes can self-organize so as to reduce energy consumption and / or improve coverage of a surveillance field. Nodes within the network may be dynamically activated or deactivated so as to lengthen network lifetime and / or enhance sensor coverage of the surveillance field.

A wireless sensor system for providing irrigation control includes a multiple number of sensor nodes and a multiple number of actuator nodes. Each sensor node includes a wireless transceiver, a processor and a sensor device and provides sensor data. Each actuator node includes a wireless transceiver, a processor and an actuating circuit for driving at least one irrigation valve. In operation, a first sensor node communicates a message to a first actuator node through wireless communication. The message can contain sensor data or control commands. The first actuator node controls the at least one irrigation valve based on the message. Furthermore, the first sensor node can transmit messages to the first actuator node through other sensor or actuator nodes in the system where the other sensor or actuator nodes act as repeater for relaying the messages. The range of the wireless sensor system is thus extended.

An adaptive security network, sensor node and methods for detecting and responding to anomalous events in a security network are provided herein. In general, the adaptive security network comprises a plurality of sensor nodes interconnected to form a communication network, wherein each sensor node is configured for detecting an anomalous event occurring within a vicinity of the sensor node and for identifying the detected anomalous event as a specific threat-event, a specific non-threat event or an unidentified event. In addition, the adaptive security network comprises a central processing and control system coupled to the plurality of sensor nodes for receiving an event notification message from at least one of the sensor nodes indicating an identity of an anomalous event detected by the at least one sensor node. Upon receiving the event notification message, the central processing and control system is configured for confirming the identity of the anomalous event provided by the at least one sensor node and for responding to the anomalous event once the identity is confirmed.

Provided is a wireless communication system easily establishing a connection path in a sensor network collecting data from a number of sensor nodes. The wireless communication system comprises a base station communicating by a first wireless communication system, plural first nodes communicating by the first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system, and plural second nodes communicating by the second wireless communication system. The first node transmits the number of hops in the first wireless communication system to the second node. The second node obtains a reception condition of at least one of a signal transmitted by the first node and a signal transmitted by the second node, and selects a upper stage node to connect based on the number of hops in the first wireless communication system, the number of hops in the second wireless communication system, and the obtained reception condition information.

A “Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller” includes a plurality of Electromyography (EMG) sensors and provides a wired or wireless human-computer interface (HCI) for interacting with computing systems and attached devices via electrical signals generated by specific movement of the user's muscles. Following initial automated self-calibration and positional localization processes, measurement and interpretation of muscle generated electrical signals is accomplished by sampling signals from the EMG sensors of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. In operation, the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller is donned by the user and placed into a coarsely approximate position on the surface of the user's skin. Automated cues or instructions are then provided to the user for fine-tuning placement of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller. Examples of Wearable Electromyography-Based Controllers include articles of manufacture, such as an armband, wristwatch, or article of clothing having a plurality of integrated EMG-based sensor nodes and associated electronics.

A method of self-organizing sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network (WSN); a method of localizing mobile nodes in a WSN; and a method of self-calibrating a WSN are disclosed. The method of self-organizing sensor nodes in a WSN includes configuring sensor nodes to in turn broadcast consecutive messages at a plurality of pre-defined and incrementally increasing power levels; detecting receipt of the broadcasted messages at each of the sensor nodes and notifying a master node as to the identity of each sensor node receiving the broadcasted message and the power level at which it was received to define a detected neighborhood for each sensor node; determining relative locations of sensor nodes with the detected neighborhoods; and mapping relative locations of the sensor nodes by the master node based on results of the neighborhood detection and known locations of two anchor nodes.

The object of the invention is to facilitate the entry of a new type of sensor node and the adoption of a new protocol in the existing sensor network system effectively utilizing limited resources of radiocommunication. To achieve the object, the following are provided. A sensor node has a radiocommunication unit that transmits a measured value sensed by a sensor and an identifier of a sensor node as binary measured data. A base station has a radiocommunication controller that receives the measured data from the sensor node, a wire communication controller that transmits the received measured data to a server, a conversion definition information selector that selects conversion definition information corresponding to the identifier included in the measured data out of preset plural conversion definition information and a conversion engine that converts the binary measured data to measured data in a text format based upon the selected conversion definition information. The server has a database that stores the measured data in the text format received via a wired network.

An operation flow of each node is dynamically changed according to a user request or a situation. A client (205) includes: a step (415) of extracting a script for a lower node from scripts in which processing is preset for a plurality of nodes to distribute the script extracted to the lower node; a step of executing processing for a self node from the script; a step of causing the lower node to receive the script distributed to execute processing for the node; and a step 410 of causing the lower node to extract a script for a node lower than the self node from the scripts, and to distribute the extracted script to the lower node if the script for the lower node is present. Based on a script executed by each node, an event from a lowest sensor node is sent through an intermediate node to the client 205.

A scalable, minimum node complexity, energy efficient, and error-resilient routing method for wireless sensor networks is described. The network is partitioned into regions by power controlled base station scans using a directional antenna. Routing is performed using only local location information and instructions received from the base station at each sensor node with minimum processing and control overhead, thus allowing simple, low-cost sensor designs. Sensors in the network provide to a base station reports of the condition of the sensors themselves, and these reports are analyzed by the base station to determine improved routing instructions, which are then provided to the sensor nodes in control messages. Each data packet is relayed in an interleaved, loop-free mesh of sectors toward the base station, making data delivery robust to sensor failures and transmission errors. The disclosure also contains descriptions for simple edge-based tasking, query, code distribution, and network programming for sensor nodes. The method is suitable for large-scale, dense sensor networks for detection, alarming, and monitoring applications.

A sensor node detects a plurality of information-based events. The sensor node determines whether at least one other sensor node is an information neighbor of the sensor node based on at least a portion of the plurality of information-based events. The information neighbor has an overlapping field of view with the sensor node. The sensor node sends at least one communication to the at least one other sensor node that is an information neighbor of the sensor node in response to at least one information-based event of the plurality of information-based events.