Surveillance network system

A method, for handling surveillance information, in a controller including a processor and an associated storage area, the method comprising:

• collecting, by the controller, information from one or more network nodes within an environment, the collected information relating to a given factor or set of factors wherein at least one of the network nodes within the environment is configured to perform data aggregation functions for at least one of the other network nodes within the environment, wherein routing for at least one of the one or more network nodes within the environment is based on hierarchical routing protocols;
• authenticating, by the controller, the one or more network nodes based on an RF signature of each of the one or more network nodes;
• accepting, by the controller, the collected information if a variance range between the collected information and the information received from at least two other network nodes satisfies a specified threshold;
• and
• rejecting, by the controller, the collected information if the variance range between the collected information and the information received from the at least two other network nodes does not satisfy the specified threshold.

A surveillance network comprising:

• a controller configured to:
• for each of a plurality of sensors within the surveillance network,
• select a sensor from among the plurality of sensors within the surveillance network, and
• determine a best route to disseminate one or more configuration updates to the selected sensor within the surveillance network at least in part by:
• defining multiple routes between the controller and the selected sensor within the surveillance network, and
• selecting the best route from among the defined multiple routes between the controller and the selected sensor within the surveillance network to disseminate the one or more configuration updates to the selected sensor within the surveillance network;
• and
• wherein each of the plurality of sensors is configured to collect information from its environment and transmit the collected information to the controller,
• wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is configured to perform computation functions for at least one other sensor of the plurality of sensors, and
• wherein each of the plurality of sensors is programmed with a unique serial number;
• wherein the controller is configured to, in response to communication from a sensor of the plurality of sensors:
• authenticate a given sensor based on an RF signature of the given sensor,
• compare information collected by a first sensor of the plurality of sensors to information collected from a set of sensors located in the vicinity of the first sensor,
• based on the comparison, determine whether the information collected by the first sensor is outside of a tolerance range, and
• in response to determining that the information collected by the first sensor is outside of the tolerance range,
• attempt to re-authenticate the first sensor, and
• in response to determining that the first sensor cannot be re-authenticated,
• terminate or restrict the first sensor's participation in the surveillance network in response to determining that the collected information is outside of the tolerance range.