US 11,700,635 B2 · Scheduling energy harvesting nodes in a wireless sensor networks

Abstract

A system and method for optimizing power consumption of energy harvesting nodes in a wireless sensor network. In one embodiment, a system includes a network coordinator. The network coordinator includes a wireless transceiver and a controller. The wireless transceiver is configured to provide access to the wireless sensor network. The controller is configured to determine whether a wireless device that is wirelessly communicating with the network coordinator is powered via energy harvesting. The controller is also configured to schedule, based on a determination that the wireless device is powered via energy harvesting, the wireless device to communicate via the wireless sensor network using a priority timeslot of a superframe of the wireless sensor network. The priority timeslot is a timeslot occurring in an initial portion of the superframe.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A network device comprising:

a transceiver;
a processor coupled to the transceiver;
and
a non-transitory memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to allocate of a set of timeslots among a set of nodes by:
receiving, via the transceiver, a communication from a first node of the set of nodes that includes a flag indicating that the first node is powered by energy harvesting;
determining a set of priority timeslots within the set of timeslots;
allocating a first timeslot of the set of priority timeslots to the first node based on the flag;
communicating, via the transceiver, allocation of the first timeslot to the first node;
allocating a second timeslot that is not in the set of priority timeslots to a second node of the set of nodes;
and
communicating, via the transceiver, allocation of the second timeslot to the second node.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Scheduling energy harvesting nodes in a wireless sensor networks

Life of this patent

Scheduling energy harvesting nodes in a wireless sensor networks

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims23