Method for activating a network node

#This application is a U.S. National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/EP2009/066224 filed Dec. 2, 2009, which designates the United States of America, and claims priority to DE Application No. 10 2009 005 187.2 filed Jan. 20, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

#The invention relates to a method for activating a network node to be woken up in a wireless network.

#Wireless networks are used in many fields of application, the nodes thereof communicating via a wireless radio interface. For example, wireless sensor networks or sensor-actuator networks are used for monitoring and controlling production plants, chemical processes or for monitoring pipelines. These sensor nodes and/or sensor-actuator nodes communicate wirelessly with one another via a radio interface in order to exchange measured values and control commands.

#Moreover, embodiments of the method of the network node and of a wireless network are disclosed in detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

#FIG. 1 shows a wireless network consisting of a sensor network node as an exemplary embodiment of a wireless network, in which the method is used for activating network nodes;

#FIG. 2 shows a diagram for illustrating the communication between two sensor network nodes of the sensor network node network shown in FIG. 1, in which a network node is woken up by a different network node from a sleep operating mode;

#According to various embodiments, in a method for activating a destination network node to be woken up in a wireless network, the destination network node being woken up from a sleep operating mode if the destination network node verifies a received secret wake-up token by means of a predetermined test function and at least one stored wake-up token reference value, the waking-up of the destination network node (SN) comprising an activation of a main radio module (2G) for transmitting and receiving messages.

#In the method according to various embodiments, therefore, a secret wake-up token (WUT) is used for waking up the network node, instead of a known fixed wake-up signal, which is received by a wake-up radio module. The secret wake-up token (WUT) is, therefore, preferably only known to legitimate and/or authenticated transmission and receiving units.

#In one embodiment of the method, the secret wake-up token and the wake-up token reference value are generated by the destination network node itself and, before the destination network node is changed into the sleep operating mode, are transmitted to a different network node of the network and, for example, stored there for subsequent activation of the destination network node.