IP Library Granted Patent US 11,082,913
Granted Patent B2
US 11,082,913 · App. 16/706,426 · Granted Aug 3, 2021

Sensor provisioning in wireless sensor networks

Inventors: Mahendra Fuleshwar Prasad (Waterloo, CA); Jesse William Bennett (Apex, NC); Scott Leonard Dill (Paris, CA); Michael Peter Montemurro (Toronto, CA); Stephen John Barrett (Haywards Heath, GB); Jason Wayne Jantzi (St. Clements, CA); Mark Edward Reaume (Waterloo, CA); Adam Paul Jocksch (Waterloo, CA); Srdjan Damjanovic (Waterloo, CA)
Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
H04W48/17H04W4/02H04W4/38H04W4/80H04W8/005H04W12/009H04W12/50H04W12/61H04W24/08H04W48/08H04W52/0203H04W52/0216H04W52/0245H04W52/0254H04W84/18H04W88/16H04L63/10
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,082,913
App. No.
16/706,426
Granted
Aug 3, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for sensor provisioning in a wireless sensor network includes determining, at a gateway, that no neighboring gateway is present; in response to no neighboring gateway present, measuring signal strengths from a plurality of sensors; based on the measured signal strengths, identifying a sensor from the plurality of sensors to be paired with the gateway; and in response to identifying the sensor, pairing the gateway and the sensor to enable a secured connection between the gateway and the sensor.

Claims (40)

1. A method, comprising:

determining, at a gateway, that no neighboring gateway is present;

in response to determining that no neighboring gateway is present, starting, by the gateway, a sensor discovery process, wherein the sensor discovery process comprises:

measuring signal strengths from a plurality of sensors;

based on the measured signal strengths, pairing at least one sensor from the plurality of sensors with the gateway.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a whitelist from a server, the whitelist including security information for pairing the gateway and the at least one sensor; and

in response to receiving the whitelist, pairing the gateway and the at least one sensor based on the security information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gateway is in a first power saving mode and the at least one sensor is in a second power saving mode.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first and second power saving modes are time synchronized.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein during the first power saving mode, the gateway wakes up at a regular time interval.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one sensor has no motion detection capability, and during the second power saving mode, the at least one sensor wakes up at a same time interval as the gateway.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one sensor has a motion detection capability, and during the second power saving mode, the at least one sensor wakes up in response to detecting a motion event.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a connection between the gateway and the at least one sensor uses at least one of a Bluetooth, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4, an IEEE 802.11, or a SubGHz technology.

9. A gateway, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one hardware processor communicatively coupled with the memory and configured to:

determine that no neighboring gateway is present;

in response to determining that no neighboring gateway is present, start a sensor discovery process, wherein the sensor discovery process comprises:

measuring signal strengths from a plurality of sensors;

based on the measured signal strengths, pairing at least one sensor from the plurality of sensors with the gateway.

10. The gateway of claim 9 , wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

receive a whitelist from a server, the whitelist including security information for pairing the gateway and the at least one sensor; and

in response to receiving the whitelist, pair the gateway and the at least one sensor based on the security information.

11. The gateway of claim 9 , wherein the gateway is in a first power saving mode and the at least one sensor is in a second power saving mode, and the first and second power saving modes are time synchronized.

12. The gateway of claim 11 , wherein during the first power saving mode, the gateway wakes up at a regular time interval.

13. The gateway of claim 12 , wherein the at least one sensor has no motion detection capability, and during the second power saving mode, the at least one sensor wakes up at a same time interval as the gateway.

14. The gateway of claim 11 , wherein the at least one sensor has a motion detection capability, and during the second power saving mode, the at least one sensor wakes up in response to detecting a motion event.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed, cause a gateway to perform operations comprising:

determining that no neighboring gateway is present;

in response to determining that no neighboring gateway is present, starting, by the gateway, a sensor discovery process, wherein the sensor discovery process comprises:

measuring signal strengths from a plurality of sensors;

based on the measured signal strengths, pairing at least one sensor from the plurality of sensors with the gateway.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a whitelist from a server, the whitelist including security information for pairing the gateway and the at least one sensor; and

in response to receiving the whitelist, pairing the gateway and the at least one sensor based on the security information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the gateway is in a first power saving mode and the at least one sensor is in a second power saving mode, and the first and second power saving modes are time synchronized.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein during the first power saving mode, the gateway wakes up at a regular time interval.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the at least one sensor has no motion detection capability, and during the second power saving mode, the at least one sensor wakes up at a same time interval as the gateway.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the at least one sensor has a motion detection capability, and during the second power saving mode, the at least one sensor wakes up in response to detecting a motion event.

Assignments (7)
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Jun 19, 2023
From: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
To: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064271/0199 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2023
From: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
To: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064104/0103 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 6, 2020
From: BLACKBERRY CORPORATION
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 052043/0180 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 6, 2020
From: BARRETT, STEPHEN JOHN
To: BLACKBERRY UK LIMITED
Reel/Frame 052043/0131 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 6, 2020
From: PRASAD, MAHENDRA FULESHWAR; DILL, SCOTT LEONARD; MONTEMURRO, MICHAEL PETER; JANTZI, JASON WAYNE; REAUME, MARK EDWARD; JOCKSCH, ADAM PAUL; DAMJANOVIC, SRDJAN
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 052117/0074 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 6, 2020
From: BLACKBERRY UK LIMITED
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 052043/0186 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 6, 2020
From: BENNETT, JESSE WILLIAM
To: BLACKBERRY CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 052043/0147 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 15891096 · Feb 7, 2018
Related Publication 20200120587A1 · Apr 16, 2020