US 2023/0208919 A1Published application

Wireless network of environmental sensor units

AssigneeDigi International Inc.

InventorHarry J. Schechter

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Environmental monitoring systems that include base stations and environmental sensor units (ESUs) that communicate in a wireless sensor network. A base station may include environmental sensors and may communicate with a remote server using a wide-area wireless network. The base station may also communicate with an environmental sensor unit using a wireless personal area network. The ESU may include environmental sensors and may communicate with the remote server via the base station. The base station and ESU may be adapted to automatically pair with one another to enable the ESU to communicate via the base station. An ESU may also be adapted to process data regarding environmental conditions by automatically determining a type of environmental sensor from which the data was received and processing the data based on the type. An ESU may also include physical ports by which new sensors can be connected to the ESU.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A method of communicating in an environmental monitoring system, the environmental monitoring system comprising an environmental sensor unit to produce data regarding at least one environmental condition and a server to analyze and store the data regarding the at least one environmental condition, the environmental monitoring system further comprising a device, the method comprising operating the device to carry out acts of:

receiving a communication from the environmental sensor unit according to a first wireless communication protocol and a data communication protocol, the data communication protocol being a stateless protocol, the communication comprising data regarding the at least one environmental condition and an identifier for the device;
transmitting the communication to the server according to a second communication protocol and the data communication protocol;
and
in response to receiving a response communication from the server according to the second communication protocol and the data communication protocol, transmitting the response communication to the environmental sensor unit via the first wireless communication protocol and the data communication protocol.

1 more element

A wireless gateway apparatus for use with a system comprising at least one sensor device and at least one computing device that is remote from the at least one computing device and remote from the wireless gateway apparatus, each of the at least one sensor device comprising an environmental sensor and a transceiver to communicate wirelessly according to a first communication protocol, the wireless gateway apparatus comprising:

a first wireless transceiver to communicate wirelessly according to the first communication protocol;
a second wireless transceiver to communicate wirelessly according to a second communication protocol, wherein the first and second communication protocols are different;
and
at least one control circuit to, in response to receiving from one of the at least one sensor device, via the first wireless transceiver, a first message formatted according to the first communication protocol and comprising first data, transmit via the second wireless transceiver and to the at least one computing device a second message formatted according to the second communication protocol and comprising the first data.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/178,916Filed 6 Mar 2023
Priority: 17 May 2012
Published: 29 Jun 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

H04L 67/12
Protocols: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in…
H04L 67/125
Specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or…:…
H04L 67/34
Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications: involving the movement of software or configuration parameters
H04W 4/50
Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor: service provisioning or reconfiguring

Family

Application13/474,372Division · filed 17 May 2012
Application18/178,916Division
US 11,627,186 B2Related patent
US 2013/0311140 A1Published application
US 2023/0208919 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.