Patent Grant
8594933
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to transmitting sensor data from a mobile device and more specifically to evaluating sensor data and controlling the transmission of data packets from the mobile device (e.g. a motor vehicle) to a back end processing system based in part on navigation information and network availability.
Existing predictive maintenance systems allow for early determinations of anticipated problems with operational devices. In these systems, product embedded information devices (PEIDs), which may be embodied as sensors, record the various operational aspects of a device. These PEIDs can record various factors, such as oil pressure, fluid levels, operating efficiency, time since previous repairs, locations, and other factors.
An existing predictive maintenance technique is a resident calculation technique in which an on-board computing system analyzes sensor data for the mobile device. For example, the mobile device may be an automobile or piece of heavy construction equipment that may travel to various locations over the course of a day. In addition, the mobile device may also include navigational processing systems, such as a global positioning system (GPS) receiver that coordinates a physical location of the mobile device with a map database providing a visual or audio indication of the mobile device's location. These navigational systems also include planning a route for the mobile device and providing driving directions to the controller of the mobile device.
Due to size and processing limitations, mobile devices do not have the capacity for sophisticated levels of computation as it relates to the events determined by the sensors. These systems can provide basic computing ability, which typically consists of comparing a sensor data reading to a chart of ranges. If the sensor data is outside of the range, the processing device may then provide a cursory notification. For example, if the oil level is below a threshold level, an oil light may be illuminated. These on-board systems are restricted to basic computations of a binary determination of whether a component's operation is either inside or outside of a predetermined operating range.
Another predictive maintenance technique includes using a back end processing system to perform various levels of calculations on the sensor data. This technique is typically limited to stationary devices because there is a dedicated communication path between the device and the back end processing system. It can be beneficial to communicate the data packet between the remote device and the back end processing system, but problems exist in the limited amount of data that can be exchanged therebetween. The back end processing system may be able perform a larger variety of processing operations on this data packet than available with the on-board processing system of the remote device. The back end processing system may also be able to additionally cross reference the sensor data with a large collection of information available in a networked environment, thereby providing a greater degree of analysis than currently locally available on the remote device.
Limitations associated with the remote device communicating with the back end processing system include the remote device's location and ability, as well as costs, to transmit data. The remote device may include the ability to transmit data over different mediums (e.g. WLAN, cellular, Bluetooth, terrestrial, etc.) Each medium includes corresponding factors, such as transmission range, cost and available bandwidth. For example, a WLAN connection may have little cost and a high bandwidth, but a very limited transmission range. Conversely, the terrestrial connection may have extremely high costs, limited bandwidth and an almost global transmission range.
As the mobile device includes the ability to communicate across numerous transmission mediums, it is beneficial to determine which data should be sent over which transmission medium and when the data can be sent. Currently, mobile devices include the ability to collect the sensor data and transmit the data over one of several available transmission mediums. These existing techniques fail to provide for the transmission costs, but rather coordinate data transmission based on transmitting when one of several networks become available. Existing techniques further do not utilize positioning information in making transmission determinations. Based on the varying degrees of transmission mediums, it would be beneficial to efficiently detect and select various transmission techniques as associated with the corresponding event detected by the sensor.
Sensor data collected on a mobile device may be transmitted using different available transmission techniques, including transmission over various wireless mediums. The sensor data may be afforded a priority level and the priority level associated with one or more of the transmission techniques. The transmission of the sensor data may also be determined based on navigational data as determined by the navigation system and network availability information. Therefore, sensor data may be transmitted based on its priority level, the navigational information of the mobile device and the network availability for the various wireless transmission mediums.
In one embodiment, the sensor data packet generation device 102 receives sensor data 110, typically received from a sensor. The sensor data packet generation device 102 may perform one or more processing functions associated with the sensor data 110 to generate a sensor data packet 112. For example, the sensor data 110 may be raw data from the sensor that the device 102 converts into another format readable by a different processing system (such as a back end processing system). In another example, the sensor data 110 may be processed to generate a sensor data packet including additional information, such as a time stamp, mobile device identification data, sensor identification data and/or other data. In another embodiment, the sensor data packet 112 may include just the raw sensor data 110. The sensor data packet generation device 102 provides the sensor data packet 112 to the evaluation device 108. In another embodiment, the sensor data packet may include additional information usable outside of the mobile device. For example, an on-board computer may generate diagnostic messages that contain pre-processed information, usable by a back end processing system.
In the apparatus 100, the network availability database 104 has network data stored therein, where the network data includes information as to transmission areas for the different available wireless transmission mediums. For example, a first transmission medium may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) that has limited transmission areas based on the placement of receivers. The transmission areas, such as may commonly be referred to as hotspots, may be geographically indicated relative to positioning information, for example using longitude and latitude designations. As discussed in further detail below, this information may be periodically updated to reflect changes in reception areas for transmission areas. The network availability database 104 provides the network data 114 to the evaluation device 108.
In the apparatus 100, the navigation device 106 generates navigation data relating to the position of the mobile device, within which the apparatus 100 may be disposed. In one example, the navigation data may include not only position information, but also route information indicating intended travel locations. The navigation data may include global positioning information, such as longitude and latitude information. In one embodiment (not specifically illustrated) the apparatus 100 may include a receiver to receive terrestrial positioning information, commonly referred to as global positioning information. In the navigation system, this information is used to direct the mobile device along prescribed paths, such as giving specific driving directions and indicating when a vehicle is off-route. The navigation data 116 is provided to the evaluation device 108.
Within the evaluation device 108, the device 108 is operative to assign a priority term to the sensor data packet 112. The assignment of this priority term may be based on a pre-existing designation of the sensor data packet 112 being associated with a corresponding priority level. In the apparatus 100, the various possible outputs of the sensors are known and priority levels are predetermined based on these possible outputs. For example, it is known that a sensor may generate sensor data within one of several ranges; when the data is outside of a range, this may be given a corresponding priority level. As described in further detail below, one embodiment may include priority levels respectively labeled as “critical,” “significant,” “informative and “recordable.” In another embodiment, the priority may be based on one or more of the sensor data packets 112 relating to each other. For example, multiple low priority events may be upgraded to a higher priority level.
The evaluation device 108 may thereupon determine a transmission technique for transmitting the sensor data packet 112 based on the priority term, the network data 114 and the navigation data 116. The transmission technique may include the selection of a particular transmission medium and the selection of recording the sensor data packet for later transmission. For example, if the sensor data packet is deemed merely informative, the evaluation device may seek to transmit the sensor data packet with a transmission technique identifier 118 using an available low cost transmission medium, where availability may be determined based on the navigation data 116 and the network data 114. In another example, if the sensor data is deemed critical, the evaluation device may determine to send the sensor data packet 112 using a highly expensive transmission medium to insure the data is properly transmitted. In another example, if the sensor data packet 112 has a very low priority, it may be internally recorded for transmission to a back end processing system when the vehicle is being serviced.
The sensors 122 may be any suitable type of sensing device capable of generating sensor data 110 providing information as to one or more components, elements, operational features or other information being sensed. For example, in one embodiment, the sensor 122 may be one or more PEIDs measuring engine characteristics of a motor vehicle or a passive element such as an RFID tag. The position monitoring device 124 may be a receiver/transmitter for determining global positioning information 134 usable by the navigation device 106. The priority term database 126 may be one or more storage device having priority terms stored therein which as described above may include pre-populated data relating to various sensor readings 110 from the sensors 122. The priority buffers 128 may also be any suitable memory device operative to store sensor data packets for transmission, where the transmission devices 130 may include transmitters for wirelessly transmitting the sensor data packet using one or more wireless transmission mediums. In another transmission technique, the transmission device 130_1 may include an interface for physical connection not necessarily using a wireless transmission, such as may be found when the mobile device is connected to a back end processing system for routine maintenance.
In one embodiment of operation, the apparatus 120 includes one or more of the sensors 122 providing the sensor data 110 to the sensor data packet generation device 102. The device 102 generates the sensor data packet 112 as described above with respect to
Similar to the embodiment described above with respect to
In one embodiment, as illustrated in
The apparatus 120 may also include other buffers 128 associated with wireless transmission devices 130_2 and 130_N. The transmission devices 130_2 and 130_N may provide wireless transmission using different transmission mediums. For example, a medium level priority transmission may be made using a WLAN connection that has limited range but has a very low transmission cost and high priority transmissions may be preferred using a cellular or a terrestrial transmission medium having a high transmission range with a high transmission costs. In one embodiment, the sensor data packets may be provided directly to the transmission devices 130, if the transmission medium is readily available and there is not need to temporarily store the packet in the buffer 128.
As noted above, in one exemplary embodiment, there may be four selected priority levels. The critical level may indicate that the mobile device requires immediate examination. For example, in a fleet vehicle, a critical level may indicate that vehicle should drive directly to nearest service station for examination or that further analysis of the data is immediately required and the back end processing system should receive the event data packet as quickly as possible. In the event the data is to be immediately transmitted, the urgency may require using whatever transmission medium available regardless of transmission costs. For example, in operating the mobile device, if a vibration occurs at the rear axle of the vehicle, an event entitled “vibration at rear axis” may be created. The measured vibration data may be given a priority level of critical based on the priority term database 126. Thereupon, this sensor data may be transmitted using the available wireless medium.
The second exemplary level may be termed significant, which indicates that further examination of the mobile device or specific components of the mobile device is required soon. This level may indicate that the back end processing system should quickly receive the sensor data, but does have to immediately receive the data. For example, an engine sensor may determine that the engine oil measures above a threshold operating temperature for an extended period of time, generating a “high oil temperature” event. This even may be deemed significant. In the significant priority determination, the location data may be utilized to determine network availability of a selected transmission medium. As described in further detail below, this may include adjusting the routing information of a mobile device to including being within a transmission area for one of the transmission mediums.
There are three exemplary scenarios with the significant priority setting. If, based on examining the network data and the navigation data, the mobile device will pass into a transmission area, the event data may be temporarily stored, such as in the buffer 128, until the mobile device enters the transmission area. If there is not network access within a predefined time interval and there are other transmission mediums available, based on a comparison of the transmission areas with the navigation data, a second scenario may include adjusting the routing of the mobile device to enter a transmission area. In this scenario, the mobile device may transmit a portion of the sensor data packet using a currently available medium (which may be more costly) and then complete the transmission once the mobile device is re-routed into the transmission area for the originally intended transmission medium. In a third exemplary scenario, if it is determined that the transmission will not be readily available, the priority level and/or the transmission medium may be adjusted, such as selecting a more expensive medium that is currently available or determining to store the data until the vehicle is within a designated transmission range.
The third exemplary level may be informative. This may include instructions to transmit the event data to a specific recipient, such as a fleet manager instead of the back end processing system. For example, a sensor may determine that there is an elevated share of noxious fumes in the exhaust gas and create a “noxious fumes share high,” which may be deemed informative. Based on the informative setting, the transmission technique may include transmitting the information on a low cost medium and performing the transmission when the medium becomes available. The information priority level would not include adjusting the routing information and does not engage a higher cost transmission medium, thereby saving processing requirements, reducing the need to re-route the mobile device and reduce extra transmission costs.
The fourth exemplary level may be recordable. This is a lowest priority setting where the sensor data does not need to be wirelessly transmitted, for example the sensor may determine that a wireless door lock function failed. Therefore, with the recordable setting, the sensor data may simply be stored on a local memory (e.g. 128) until the mobile device is being serviced and this sensor data can be manually retrieved from the device.
In the operation of the mobile device 152, the apparatus 120 generates the sensor data packets for transmission to the back end processing system 154. Based on the transmission technique determination, the mobile device 152 uses one of the available transmission techniques 130, to provide a transmission 158 of the sensor data packet to the back end processing system 154. For example, if a wireless transmission is selected, the suitable wireless transmission medium is used. In the back end processing system, this data may then be analyzed for further processing, as described in further detail below.
In another embodiment of the system 150, the mobile device 152 is also operative to be in wireless communication with the wireless carrier 156. This communication may include the reception of network availability data 160 indicating the available network area for the corresponding wireless medium. For example, if the transmission is a cellular transmission, the network availability data 160 may include the geographical designations of areas having network availability, possibly including signal strength for different areas. As the wireless carriers improve transmission capabilities and install or utilize more wireless equipment, the network availability evolves; therefore, through communication, the network availability data 160 stored in the network availability database (104 of
The evaluation device 108 determines the priority term as described above and determines the transmission technique based on the network data 114 and the navigation data 116. Although, in this embodiment, the evaluation device 108 is further operative to determine if there should be an adjustment of the navigation data 116 based on the network data 114. For example, if it is determined that the mobile device can enter a transmission area by re-routing the mobile device, the evaluation device 108 may seek to adjust the navigation data.
In this embodiment, the evaluation device 108, in response to executable instructions, may compare the selected transmission technique with the network data 114 to determine if the mobile device can be routed to drive within a transmission area. This may include examining the full navigation route of the navigation data 116 to determine if a transmission area is included. This may further include examining other available transmission techniques and potentially adjusting the transmission technique to corresponding to available transmission areas or areas becoming available based on the navigation data.
In the embodiment of
In its operation, the navigation device 106 submits updating information 186 to the output device 182. This updating information may include a visual indication that the vehicle is being re-routed, as well as a change in the navigation instructions. For instance, a vehicle may be instructed to turn off the previously designated route and take a new route. The evaluation device 108 further provides the sensor data packet for available transmission so that when the vehicle is within the transmission range, the sensor data packet is thereupon wirelessly transmitted, similar to the embodiments described above. Therefore, the evaluation device 108, in conjunction with the network data 114, may re-route the mobile device to allow for the transmission of a prioritized sensor data packet.
The next step, step 204, is receiving network data including transmission areas for one or more transmission mediums from a network availability database. The next step, step 206, is assigning a priority term to the sensor data packet. As described above, this may be done through referencing a priority term database 170, such as illustrated in
Through this apparatus and method, sensor data may be transmitted from a mobile device to a back end processing system based, in part, on the navigation data related to the movements of the mobile device. The apparatus includes setting the priority level of the sensor data packet and then determining the technique for transmitting the sensor data packet based on the transmission areas of available networks and the current navigation data. The transmission of sensor data to the back end processing system is enhanced by addressing the known limitations of transmission availability of wireless medium relative to the priority of the event that is the subject of the sensor data packet and the geographical positioning of the mobile device, including not only current locations but also possibly addressing future routed locations of the mobile device.
Although the preceding text sets forth a detailed description of various embodiments, it should be understood that the legal scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims set forth below. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment of the invention since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.
It should be understood that there exist implementations of other variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects, as may be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and that the invention is not limited by specific embodiments described herein. It is therefore contemplated to cover any and all modifications, variations or equivalents that fall within the scope of the basic underlying principals disclosed and claimed herein.
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