Systems, devices, and methods of managing power consumption in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, methods, and devices for managing power consumption in a wireless sensor network. Such embodiments may include a remote server, a wide area network coupled to the remote server, at least one access point device coupled to the remote server through the wide area network, one or more sensors coupled to each other and to the access point and datasinks through the network. Each datasink can be a data coordinator and receive sensor information from the one or more sensors and transmit sensor information to the at least access point. Further, a first set of sensors are configured to be routing sensors and a second set of sensors are configured end point sensors based on a graph theoretic algorithm to reduce transmitting power of each sensor and reduce overall power of the wireless sensor network, and configuring a first operational wireless sensor network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for managing power consumption in a wireless sensor network, the system comprising:
 (a) a remote server   (b) a wide area network coupled to the remote server;   (c) at least one access point device coupled to the remote server through the wide area network,   (d) at least one wireless sensor subnetwork that includes one or more wireless sensors coupled to each other and to the access point wherein the wireless sensor network includes one or more wireless sensor subnetworks;   (e) one or more datasinks wherein each datasink is configured to being a data coordinator and configured to receiving sensor information from the one or more wireless sensors, processing sensor information, and transmitting sensor information to at least one access point;
 (i) wherein each wireless sensor is configured to be a node, wherein the node is selected from the group consisting of a routing sensor and an endpoint sensor; 
 (ii) wherein a first set of wireless sensors are configured to be one or more routing sensors and a second set of wireless sensors are configured to be one or more end point sensors based on a graph theoretic algorithm and to configure each wireless sensor to a minimum power level based on a bridging distance to a neighboring sensor thereby reducing overall power consumption in the wireless sensor network; 
   (f) wherein implementing the graph theoretic algorithm results in generating a spanning tree that increases the ratio of wireless sensors to access points in a wireless sensor subnetwork.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the graph theoretic algorithm includes:
 selecting a link wherein the link couples a node pair and a node can be selected from the group consisting of an access point, datasink, routing sensor, or endpoint sensor;   mapping the distance between the selected node pairs to a corresponding bridging power level wherein the bridging power level between a node pair is designated as a weight of the link;   ranking the weighted links for each corresponding node pair in nondecreasing order of weight;   selecting a next least weighted link and corresponding node pair as part of a subgraph;   repeating the selecting of the next least weighted link and corresponding node pair as part of the subgraph until every node is part of the subgraph and generates a spanning tree used to configure routing information for the neighborhood area network.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein location of the one or more access points corresponds to location of one or more nodes as a result of selection by the graph theoretic algorithm. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote server uses the graph theoretic algorithm to configure, over the wide area network and through the access point, the first set of wireless sensors as routing sensors and the second set of wireless sensors as end point sensors in a wireless sensor subnetwork. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the datasink: (i) receives sensor information corresponding to each of the one or more routing sensors and one or more end point sensors; and (ii) processes the meter information to generate sub-network status information and transmits the sub-network status information to the access point. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the access point transmits the sensor information from one or more wireless sensors and the sub-network status information from one or more datasinks to the remote server over the wide area network. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the remote server:
 processes the sensor information for a subset of the one or more routing sensors and one or more end point sensors and the network and sub-network status information;   detects a faulty wireless sensor and modifies the configuration of the one or more routing sensors and one or more end point sensors based on the sensor information and network and sub-network status information to generate an updated spanning tree used to reconfigure routing information for the wireless sensor subnetwork.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , the system further comprising a remote computing device coupled to the access point and the remote server over the wide area network, the remote computing device having a user interface configured to receiving user input and retrieving and displaying sensor information and network and sub-network status information. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the remote computing device is configured to modify configuration of a subset of wireless sensor subnetworks based on user input and the sensor information and network and sub-network status information. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein a datasink function is implemented by a node selected from the group consisting of a wireless sensor and an access point. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the graph theoretic algorithm is Kruskal's algorithm which generates a spanning tree for configuring the routing information in the wireless sensor subnetwork. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein placement of one or more dummy nodes in the wireless sensor subnetwork maximizes a ratio of wireless sensors to access points wherein the dummy nodes are placed between two wireless sensors that have distance exceeding a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         13 . A system for managing power consumption in a wireless sensor network, the system comprising:
 (a) a remote server   (b) a wide area network coupled to the remote server;   (c) at least one access point device coupled to the remote server through the wide area network,   (d) one or more wireless sensors coupled to each other and to the access point through a wireless sensor subnetwork wherein the wireless sensor network includes one or more wireless sensor subnetworks;   (e) one or more datasinks wherein each datasink is a wireless sensor configured to being a data coordinator and configured to receiving sensor information from the one or more wireless sensor processing sensor information, and transmitting sensor information to at least access point;
 (i) wherein each wireless sensor is configured to be a node, wherein the node is selected from a group consisting of a routing node and an endpoint node; 
 (ii) wherein a first set of wireless sensors are configured to be one or more routing nodes and a second set of wireless sensors are configured to be one or more end point nodes based on a graph theoretic algorithm and to configure each wireless sensor to a minimum power level based on a bridging distance to a neighboring sensor thereby reducing overall power consumption in the wireless sensor network; 
   (f) wherein graph theoretic algorithm results in generating a spanning tree that increases the ratio of wireless sensors to access points in a wireless sensor subnetwork.   (g) wherein one more wireless sensor subnetworks are bridged by one or more dummy nodes to increase ratio of wireless sensors to access points.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the access point device includes:
 a processor;   a memory coupled to the processor;   one or more communication interfaces coupled to the processor;   wherein the device (i) stores the sensor information and the network information in the memory; (ii) receives sensor information corresponding to each of the one or more routing nodes and one or end point nodes from the one or more communication interfaces; (iii) processes the sensor information to generate a spanning tree using the processor implementing a graph theoretic algorithm; and (iv) transmits the sensor information and the network configuration information to the one or more communication interfaces; (v) wherein each wireless sensor is configured to a minimum power level thereby reducing overall power consumption in the wireless sensor network; (vi) wherein implementing the graph theoretic algorithm results in increasing the ratio of wireless sensors to access points in a wireless sensor subnetwork.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein a remote server device includes:
 a processor;   a memory coupled to the processor;   one or more communication interfaces coupled to the processor;   wherein the device: (i) stores the sensor information and the network information in the memory; (ii) processes the sensor-information for a subset of the one or more routing nodes and one or more end point nodes and generates a spanning tree to reduce the overall power consumption in the wireless sensor network using the processor implementing a graph theoretic algorithm; (iii) transmits reconfiguration data of the one or more routing nodes and one or more end point nodes based on the sensor information and network configuration information using the processor through the one or more communication interfaces.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein location of the one or more access points corresponds to location of one or more nodes as a result of selection by the graph theoretic algorithm. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the remote server is coupled to one or more access points across a wide area network, the wide area network implementing a protocol, the protocol selected from the group consisting of Carrier Ethernet, WiFi, 3G, LTE, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein one or more access points are interconnected using a wireless mesh network. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the wireless mesh network is reduced to a minimum cost spanning tree using Kruskal's algorithm thereby reducing power consumption of each access point.