DE112018002165T5 - Sensor roaming and handover - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods to enable roaming include a cloud environment that includes distributed storage and computing devices and multiple gateways that provide access to the cloud environment. A mobile sensor node is configured to communicate with the cloud environment via one of the gateways. The gateway can be selected based on the location of the mobile sensor node at this time. The mobile sensor node and the cloud are configured to establish an encrypted connection that is independent of the gateway used to transmit data via the encrypted connection, so that when the mobile sensor node stops communication via one of the first and second gateways and initiates communication over the other from the first and second gateways, the encrypted connection is maintained without the need for a new connection.

Description

Technical field

The present disclosure relates generally to mobile electronic devices and, more particularly, to systems and methods for roaming in wireless networks.

background

Mobile sensors, such as those found on mobile devices, often need to communicate their measurement data, receive commands, calibrate, and perform various other activities that require Internet communication. Such devices access the Internet or another wide area network (WAN) via access points. However, if a device roams from one access point to another, a new connection, including new encryption protocols and so on, must be set up with the new access point. This is problematic in so far that it leads to delay and errors.

Before going into the remainder of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosure may address some of the disadvantages listed or implied in this background section. Such benefit, however, is not limited to the scope of the principles disclosed or the appended claims, except to the extent expressly stated in the claims.

In addition, the discussion of technology in this background section reflects the inventor's own observations, considerations, and thoughts and is in no way intended to detail or comprehensively summarize a prior art document or practice. Therefore, the inventors expressly reject that this section is admitted or accepted prior art. In addition, the identification or implication of one or more desirable actions given here reflects the inventor's own observations and ideas and should not be considered a desirable action recognized in the art.

Brief description of the different views of the drawings

While the appended claims accurately describe the features of the present techniques, these techniques, together with their objectives and advantages, can best be understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1 Figure 3 is a simplified diagram of the operating environment of an embodiment of the principles described.

Detailed description

Before giving a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosed principles in claim form, an overview of embodiments is provided to assist the reader in understanding the later discussion. As stated above, enabling roaming may be difficult due to a lack of complete information or a lack of current information. Mobile sensors, such as those found on mobile devices, often need to communicate their measurement data, receive commands, calibrate, and perform various other activities that require Internet communication. Such devices access the Internet or another wide area network (WAN) via access points. However, if a device roams from one access point to another, a new connection, including new encryption protocols and so on, must be set up with the new access point. This is problematic because it leads to delays and errors.

This disclosure provides a new method of enabling roaming for a mobile electronic device in wireless networks. The system consists of three main components, namely sensor nodes, gateways and the cloud. Sensor nodes are small wireless sensors that transmit information. Gateways or “cloud connectors” receive the information from the sensor nodes and forward this information to a cloud solution. After all, "the cloud" is a software solution that resides in the cloud (i.e. that resides on one or more servers connected to the Internet) that collects all data from all sensors and presents it to an authenticated user.

The concept is schematic in 1 shown, including mobile devices 101 (Sensor node), of a gateway 103 , a cloud 105 and an end user PC 107 . As can be seen, the disclosed system enables the sensor node to move freely from one gateway to another while maintaining two-way encryption and authenticity over the communication link.

This happens without the need for a new connection when the sensor moves to another gateway. The movement can be initiated either by physically moving the sensor or a gateway, by radio interference on the established channel or by losing connection or power supply to a gateway, or by removing a gateway.

This is achieved by establishing a secure connection between the sensor node and the cloud. The gateway will act as a middleman without understanding or having to understand which node it is communicating with or understanding or having to understand the content of the messages being transmitted.

With regard to uplink activities, for messages that go from the sensor node to the cloud (“uplink”), the gateway forwards every message that passes tests, e.g. B. bit errors and the like. If multiple gateways receive the same message from the same sensor node, all gateways forward the same message to the cloud, where it is determined that they are actually copies of the same message. Decryption of the message and verification of authenticity is carried out by the cloud.

Regarding downlink activities, for messages going from the cloud to a sensor node, the cloud will choose a gateway as the contact point for the sensor node. In one embodiment, this is based on which gateway has the best radio communication connection with the sensor. The measure for the best can be determined by means of a signal-to-noise ratio, a latency or another suitable measurement variable.

The cloud will send the encrypted message to the gateway, and the gateway will then forward it to the designated node when the node is ready to receive it.

The encryption in the system is completely independent of the gateway, and as such the nodes and gateways can move freely while maintaining an encrypted connection between the sensor node and the cloud fully operational. In other words, the gateways are not part of the encryption decryption topology.

It will be understood that the process steps carried out here can be carried out via computer-aided execution of computer-readable instructions from a non-transitory memory. It will also be understood that various systems and processes have been disclosed here. However, given the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the present disclosure can be applied, it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with reference to the drawing figures are only illustrative in nature and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. Therefore, all of the techniques described herein include all such embodiments that may fall within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims (10)

A roaming enabling system comprising: a cloud environment comprising distributed storage and computing devices; a first gateway providing access to the cloud environment; a second gateway providing access to the cloud environment; and at least one mobile sensor node configured to communicate with the cloud environment via either the first or the second gateway, the gateway being selected for communication at any time based on the location of the mobile sensor node at that time, and wherein the mobile sensor nodes and the cloud are configured to establish an encrypted connection that is independent of the gateway used to transmit data via the encrypted connection, so that when the mobile sensor node stops communication via one of the first and second gateways and one Communication initiated via the other from the first and second gateways, the encrypted connection is maintained without the need for a new connection. System according to Claim 1 , whereby the encrypted connection is also used for authentication. System according to Claim 1 , wherein the setting of the communication via one of the first and second gateways and an initiation of the communication via the other of the first and second gateways by radio interference on the channel set up or by loss of connection or power supply to the gateway, or in that the Gateway is removed. System according to Claim 1 , where the encrypted connection is a secure connection. System according to Claim 1 wherein, for a message going from the sensor node to the cloud, the gateway in use forwards the message to the cloud, with involved in encryption or decryption. System according to Claim 5 , with the gateway checking the message for errors. System according to Claim 1 , wherein the cloud is configured to detect receipt of multiple copies of the same message from multiple gateways. System according to Claim 5 , with the cloud configured to decrypt the message and verify its authenticity. System according to Claim 1 , for messages going from the cloud to a sensor node, the cloud is configured to select a gateway as a contact point for the sensor node. System according to Claim 1 , wherein the selection of a gateway is based at least in part on which gateway has the best radio communication connection with the sensor.

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