WO2007073344A1

WO2007073344A1 - System for monitoring a straying herd of beasts

Info

Publication number: WO2007073344A1
Application number: PCT/SE2006/050608
Authority: WO
Inventors: Susanne Spik; Karin Kuoljok
Original assignee: Susanne Spik; Karin Kuoljok
Priority date: 2005-12-21
Filing date: 2006-12-20
Publication date: 2007-06-28
Also published as: SE0502837L

Abstract

The invention refers to a system for monitoring a straying herd of beasts. In order to enable a stockbreeder to monitor a herd in network infrastructure defective areas the system comprises, a mobile unit (101 ) suitable for wearing on or about the body of a beast of a herd for example on a reindeer and having a electronic connection to at least one ad-hoc communication network (100), said mobile unit having a mobile unit status, a communication system (109) executing on said mobile unit, said communication system enabling a flow of communication messages across said at least one ad-hoc communication network, a mobile unit beast characterization data system (203) executing on said mobile unit, said mobile unit beast characterization data system setting said mobile unit status, said mobile unit beast characterization data system creating, transmitting and receiving mobile unit beast characterization data, said flow of communications messages containing said mobile unit beast characterization data, said mobile unit beast characterization data having a pre-defined relationship to said mobile unit status, a mobile unit beast characterization protocol system (201 ) executing on said mobile unit (101 ) said mobile unit beast characterization protocol system sequencing execution of said mobile unit beast characterization data system (105) according to said flow of communications messages and said mobile unit status, and a report system (205) executing on said mobile unit (101 ), said report system monitoring said mobile unit status, said report system preparing an interpretation of said mobile unit status and reporting said interpretation to a user of the system for monitoring a straying herd.

Description

SYSTEM FOR MONITORING A STRAYING HERD OF BEASTS

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a system for monitoring a straying herd of beasts according to the preamble of claim 1

Background of the invention

Systems in which a number of mobile communication units can co-operate to form a communication network are previously known and are also referred to as ad-hoc networks A wireless ad-hoc network, also referred to as a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), is known to comprise a set of mobile units connected by wireless links The communication units form a wireless network, allowing data to be relayed from an originating communication unit to a destination communication device, by way of other communication units

Typical examples of ad-hoc networks are wireless sensor networks, where the mobile units have sensors that gather environmental data such as the position and status of an object and send the information to computational devices for further processing, or to base stations for relay to wired network Such networks may for example be deployed in areas having no or very bad network infrastructure Also, the mobile communication units are likely to move in unpredictable ways The topology of an ad-hoc network is dynamic since the mobile units are typically free to move randomly and organize themselves arbitrary

The dawn of new and cheap wireless networking solutions has created opportunities for networking in exciting new applications With wireless LAN-interface technologies such as the IEEE 802 11 , and other radio solutions (e g low power radios designed for use in sensor networks), it has become viable to equip almost any movable object with network capabilities Wireless LANs use radio airwaves to communicate information from one point to another without relaying on any physical connection Any time two or more wireless adapters are within range of each other they can set up an independent network, a spontaneous network

Many protocols support ad-hoc networking The main differences among protocols are the amount of administrative overhead and the presence or absence of transmission loops in which the packet moves infinitively around the network In wireless networks messages can be transmitted and retransmitted from each mobile unit to others and possibly to a central receiving/transmitting base station In order to ease arrangement the messages can be tagged by time and a unique identifier An example of an identifiable user entry system fs physical address authentication, such as the Media Access Control (MAC) Address Authentication procedure, which is part of the IEEE 802 1 1 wireless local area network standard The MAC address is a unique value associated with each network adapter, and is also known as a hardware address or physical address A MAC address is a unique value associated with each network adapter or mobile unit.

The mobile units in an ad-hoc network typically attempt to communicate amongst each other by relaying packets. However, due to the limited transmission range that is characteristic of mobile units in an ad-hoc network, multiple network "hops" are typically needed for one node to exchange data with another across the network. One of the problems is here to design effective routing protocols to meet a variety of performance objectives given such a communications environment. Most existing routing protocols for wireless ad-hoc networks concentrate on finding and maintaining routes in face of changing topology caused by mobility or other environmental changes. Typical protocols use shortest path methodologies based on hop count, geographic distance, or transmission power. The first two are important in minimizing delay and maximizing throughput. The third objective is peculiar to wireless ad-hoc networks, and is important because typically the mobile units have a limited power supply and radio communication equipment consumes a large fraction of this supply not only in a transmitting mode but also in a receiving or listening mode. In the ad-hoc routing protocol system known as DSDV "hello" messages are periodically transmitted by the devices, so that neighbors are aware of the state of local links.

Theoretically, two or more completely unknown mobile units wishing to establish a link could be considered to be a uπsolvable problem. As a matter of fact today this is not the case since new technologies such as Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) Technology and Bluetooth (RTM) technologies has made this possible.

Normally, one of the most basic requirements for enabling two mobile units to communicate through a network is that there exists a fully connection path between them. Hence, most known routing technologies are based on the assumption that the network operates without node communication failure. However, in order to solve this problem it is known to have a buffer memory in mobile units in which messages can be buffered. A scenario where communication failure can occur and where the network infrastructure is defective could for example include communication between a stockbreeder and their migrating herd such as Sami people and their herds of straying reindeers. Reindeers are commonly held in areas having no or very poor communication infrastructure. For example the aboriginal Sami population of reindeer's herders in the north of

Sweden follows the movement of the reindeer and when in summer camps, no fixed infrastructure is available. Still, it would be desirable to be able to communicate with the rest of the world through mobile relays attached to snowmobiles or ATVs Similar problems exist in other environments for example in military war-time scenarios and disaster recovery situations, soldiers or rescue personnel often are in hostile environments where no infrastructure can be assumed to be present Furthermore, the mobile units may be sparsely distributed so connectivity between them is intermittent and infrequent and also the communication network can be separate depending on in which area the straying herd is moving For example in one specific area an old NMT digital net can be the only existing net at present while in another area the available net could be a GSM, 3G or whatever could be available in order to establish a wireless communication line

Under such conditions and circumstances the risk of loosing contact between the mobile units is apparent Regarding stockbreeders having to monitor and receiving necessary information from migrating herd such as the Sami people this for example could be in the event their reindeers has moved to an area with very poor or even no network infrastructure, but also because of the problem of keeping the energy consuming mobile units in a constant operation state Still it is of necessity for the stockbreeder to be able to monitor the movements, location and the condition of each individual in the herd

Accordingly there is a need for techniques that meet performance objectiveness associated with an ad-hoc network in environments of network infrastructure defective areas enabling the stockbreeder to monitor the movements, location and the condition not only of the herd as such but also from each of the beasts Further there is a need to achieve communication equipment meeting the performance by consuming as little energy as possible not only in a transmitting mode but also in a receiving or listening mode

Summary of the invention

The present invention provides a system for tracing, identifying and receiving information from a straying herd of beasts such as reindeers that meet performance objectives associated with ad-hoc network environment in network infrastructure defective areas as set fort here above The information is used for monitoring the movements, location and the condition of each of the beasts

The problems set fort above as well as further and other problems are solved by the present invention in accordance with the features set forth in claim 1 The solutions and advantages of the present invention are achieved by the illustrative embodiment of the invention described here below

The system of the present invention comprises (1 ) a beast characterization protocol operating on ad-hoc communications network among cooperating mobile units, the protocol serving to sequence the flow of beast characterization data among cooperation mobile units, and (2) a beast characterization data detection, reception and communication system that enables the identification of geographic areas of the beast in concern Using conventional computer technology and conventional wireless LAN transceivers, a plurality of beasts so equipped, and further containing the system of the present invention, can form an ad-hoc distributed real time system for monitoring individual beasts of a straying herd Periodically the mobile units carried by the beast in the herd send out beast characterization data in a sequence defined by the message content and beast characterization protocol of the present invention Mobile units on nearby beasts receive these data and possibly retransmit the data, or mobile units carried by snowmobiles or whatever passing within range of the said mobile units also carrying mobile units can receive and retransfer the messages to base station and further to a wired network and the internet Hence, characterization data from each individual beast can be distributed through the ad-hoc network and further to any immediate base station for further distribution through internet

The above objects can be achieved by the system according to the present invention exhibiting the distinctive features and characteristics specified in claim 1 Further distinctive features and advantages of the invention are given in the dependent claims

For a better understanding of the present invention together with other or further objects thereof reference is made to the accompanying drawings and detailed description

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG 1 is a network diagram of an ad-hoc network formed by the mobile units of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention,

FIG 2 is a schematic diagram showing the major components of two illustrative communicating mobile units of the ad-hoc network of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention,

FlG 3 is a schematic block diagram of the systems that implement the major components of a mobile unit of the illustrative embodiment of the system of the present invention,

FlG. 4 is a layout diagram of the TCP/IP layers including possible of an ad-hoc protocol implementation and the beast characterization data protocol implementation in the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, FIG 5 is a layout diagram of the beast characterization data message understood by the beast characterization data protocol of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the establishment of a wireless connection between mobile units in the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, and

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the system for establishment of a wireless connection according to the present invention

Detailed Description of the invention

The following description will illustrate the inventive system for tracing and identifying of a straying herd by using exemplary ad-hoc network architecture. It should however be understood that the invention is not limited to use any particular ad-hoc network architecture. Rather, the invention is more generally applicable to any network architecture in which it is desirable to perform an effective data routing under special conditions such as disclosed here above. Referring now to FlG. 1 in the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, mobile units 101 suitable for wearing on or about the body of an individual beast and which applied on the individual beasts of a herd form an ad-hoc network 100. Mobile units 101 communicate with each other through wireless communication systems 109 under the control of an ad-hoc protocol 103 Beast information messages 107 flow through network 100 moving beast characterization data among mobile units of the ad-hoc network 100 under the control of beast characterization data protocol 105.

Mobile units 101 in the illustrative embodiment include systems to support the flow of beast characterization data as shown in FIG. 2. In particular, a beast characterization protocol 105 governs sequencing the flow of beast characterization data messages 107 by sequencing the execution of beast characterization reception/computation system 203. Beast characterization data are gathered from the beast by sensors 207 suitable applied on the beast and from mobile units on neighboring beasts, through in the illustrative embodiment, wireless LAN communications 109. In fig. 1 the beasts provided with mobile units 101 are denoted 1 , 2, 3 to n. Mobile unit components 101 are further detailed in FIG. 3 Beast characterization data protocol system 201 includes, in the illustrative embodiment, a procedure control system 301 that retains status information for itself and other mobile units in a beast characteristics database 303. Control system 301 manages a flow of beast characteristic data gathered from neighboring mobile units, meaning that each mobile unit 101 in the network also carries information of all the neighboring mobile units and all this information can be transferred to the wired internet after contact by any of the mobile units with a suitable base station. A best characterization data reception/computation system 203 receives, creates and transmits beast characterization data The data system 203 includes a message reception system 313 that receives a beast characterization data message 105 from the ad- hoc network through a LAN interface 317 and LAN receiver 321 systems (wireless LAN communications 109). At the same time, a signal strength detection system 305 determines signal strength for incoming messages. The protocol uses this information to decide whether or not to retransmit the incoming message to other mobile units in the ad-hoc network, so the signal strength information is fed directly to the procedure control system 301. More exactly, if the signal strength reduces, the mobile unit 101 is instructed to take the opportunity to receive and retransmit the incoming message before totally loosing contact.

If the mobile unit 101 loose contact with the base station during transmisson, or when the mobile unit must conserve power, these kind of events causes a so called intermittent connectivity. One effect is a loss of data. Problems associated with intermittent activity may be overcome by using a DTN (Delay-Tolerant Network), known in the art, and which use store-and-forward message switching (or isolated delay), Entire blocks of beast characterization communication messages, or fragments of such data, are forwarded from a storage place on one mobile unit 101(1) to a storage place on another mobile unit 101(2) and so on, along a path that eventually reaches a base station.

In traditional routing protocols, the message is sent to the neighbor with the shortest path to the destination. Normally the message is also only sent to a single mobile unit. But when a message arrives at a mobile unit, there might not be a path to the destination available so the mobile unit has to buffer the message. Upon each encounter with another mobile unit, the decision must be made on whether or not to transfer a particular message. Advantageous, the message is forwarded to multiple mobile units to increase the probability that a message reaches the base station.

In the illustrative embodiment, a beast monitoring system 311 can detect that the beast is still in existence, for example by measuring movements or the body temperature of the beast. Other real-time attributes can of course also be detected, if no movements are registered by the mobile unit 101 the units monitor means 311 passes this information to the procedure control system 301 which relates no movements to the best characterization data. As will be apparent in the following beast status determines beast characterization data protocol sequencing.

According to the beast characterization protocol, the mobile unit must send to the ad-hoc network 100 periodic. Thus the data system includes a timer 307 to periodically schedule execution of the message creation system 309. The message creation system 309 gathers unite location data from a GPS interface 315 which receives location information from GPS receiver 319. The message creation system 309 combines these location data with beast characterization data in a pre-defined message format as shown in FIG 5 The message creation system 309 transmits the beast data message through wireless LAN communications 109 Using a timer to start up the mobile unit 101 and execution of the message creation periodically is power saving

5 Referring now to FIGS 4 and 5, the beast characterization data message 107 includes a message header 501 that conforms in format to an ad-hoc protocol 103 Header can display an identification of a specific beast or preferably display an identification mark, name of a beast or a whole herd Any protocol that supports ad-hoc networking, as described above, can suitably be used to reliably transfer beast characterization data messages 107

I O Network protocols are implemented in layers as shown in FIG 4 At the physical interface is a "radio layer" 413 that converts incoming signals from physical devices into a digital representation Next is the Medium Access Control layer 411 that interprets the order of the digital signals by the device The internet Protocol layer 407 uses a set of rules to exchange messages among mobile units It is at this level that an ad-hoc routing protocol 409 might be 5 implemented The next layer, the Transmission Control Protocol layer 405, uses a set of rules to exchange messages with other mobile units at the communication packet level Finally, the application/user layer 401 uses a set of user-defined rules to process complete messages in an application-specific way At this layer, the beast characterization data protocol 105 might be implemented 0 Communications message beast characterization data fields in the illustrative embodiment are message type 503, latitude 507 longitude 509, and timestamp 513 Loop prevention is enabled in the illustrative embodiment by a field referred to as a counter 505 The timestamp also enables the mobile unit 101 to sort out old message data keeping the latest messages prepared for further transmission Other data exchanged among mobile 5 units of the illustrative embodiment include altitude 511 and intended direction 515 In the illustrative embodiment, communication messages are formatted as shown in FIG 5, but any variation of this format, if understood by participating mobile units, is acceptable

Establishment of a wireless connection between mobile units 101 in the illustrative embodiment of the present invention is shown more in detail in FIG 6 0 Following initialization by the timer mobile unit 101 and after starting up of the GPS and LAN devices, movements of the beast is detected by the beast monitor 311 With reference to fig 6 and the steps denoted S21 to S26 at step S21 , the first mobile unit 101 (1), set in its searching procedure initialized the timer 307, the first mobile unit commences searching for other mobile units to communicate with In order to search for other mobile

35 units to communicate with, the first mobile unit 101(1) transmits an initiation or "hello" signal using a transmitter At step S22, the initiation signal is received by the second mobile unit 101 (2) At step S23-S25, the second mobile unit determines whether to establish a wireless connection with the first mobile unit starts The determining step, which as such is no part of the invention, could be automatic or performed by some security considerations The configuration data is used to set up a wireless connection between the first and the second mobile units 101 (1) and 101(2) At step S26 the beast data message 107 is transferred With reference to fig 7 the above described system works as follows

First, the mobile unit system 100 is initialized The timer being synchronized for all the mobile units 101 (1-n) in the procedure control, system 301 switches from idle to listen mode and the system begins to listen for incoming messages Simultaneously, the system begins to transmit periodic messages containing its status information including, but not limited to, its beast characterization status, its location and timestamp If a message is received, the system detects and processes certain types of messages specially, for example "weak" signals and messages according to "not moving, motionless" (not alive) messages according to the beast characterization protocol 201 In some cases, when appropriate according to the control process program, data from the received message in the mobile units 101 (1 -n) are used to update the databases in the ad-hoc network 100 Finally, the system continually checks the beast motion changes, such as sudden long duration of motionless and executes specific procedures in correspondence to information gathered tn order to reduce the power consumption the timer switches the mobile unit 101 and the associated procedure control process 301 between an active listening mode and an inactive idle procedure mode wherein all the equipment in the mobile unit cease to function, searching procedure mode for searching and listening for signals on the one hand from near by LAN mobile units, and on the other hand signals from mobile unit operators such as near by base stations Said base stations can be of any suitable for example of mobile telephone base stations being of GPS or 3G type or any kind suitable for receiving beast data messages and forward these to messages to wired network. As a result a stockbreeder, even though the herd is moving an areas with very poor or even no network infrastructure at all, is to be able to monitor movements, location and the condition of each individual beast in the herd

Although the invention has been described with respect to various embodiments, it should be realized this invention is also capable of wide variety of further and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims y

Reference numbers ref no meaninq

100 network

101 mobile unit

103 ad-hoc protocol

105 beast characterization data protocol

107 beast data message

109 wireless communications (LAN)

201 beast characterization data protocol system

203 beast characterization data reception/computation system

205 report system

207 on-beast data gathering system

301 procedure control system

303 beast characterization database

305 signal strength detection system

307 timer

309 message creation system

313 message reception system

315 GPS interface system

317 LAN interface system

319 conventional GPS receiver

321 conventional local area network (LAN) transceiver

401 applicatton/user layer

405 TCP/UDP layer

407 IP layer

409 ad-hoc routing protocol

411 MAC layer

413 radio layer

501 message header

503 message type

505 counter

507 latitude

509 longitude

511 altitude

513 timestamp

515 intended direction

Claims

1 System for monitoring a straying herd of beasts comprising a mobite unit (101) suitable for wearing on or about the body of a beast of a herd for example on a reindeer and having a electronic connection to at least one ad-hoc communication network (100), said mobile unit having a mobile unit status, a communication system (109) executing on said mobile unit, said communication system enabling a flow of communication messages across said at least one ad-hoc communication network, a mobile unit beast characterization data system (203) executing on said mobile unit, said mobile unit beast characterization data system setting said mobile unit status, said mobile unit beast characterization data system creating, transmitting and receiving mobile unit beast characterization data, said flow of communications messages containing said mobile unit beast characterization data, said mobile unit beast characterization data having a pre-defined relationship to said mobile unit status, a mobile unit beast characterization protocol system (201) executing on said mobile unit (101 ) said mobile unit beast characterization protocol system sequencing execution of said mobile unit beast characterization data system (105) according to said flow of communications messages and said mobile unit status, and a report system (205) executing on said mobile unit (101), said report system monitoring said mobile unit status, said report system preparing an interpretation of said mobile unit status and reporting said interpretation to a user of the system for monitoring a straying herd of beasts

2 System for monitoring straying a herd of beasts according to claim 1 , comprising a delay-tolerant network forwarding entire blocks of beast characterization communication messages, or fragments of such data, from a storage place on one mobile unit 101 (1 ) to a storage place on another mobile unit 101 (n) along a path that eventually reaches a suitable base station

3 System for monitoring straying a herd of beasts according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said communications system (109) comprises, a wireless local area network (LAN) transceiver (321) for receiving and transmitting wireless signals from said ad-hoc network (100), and a LAN interface (317) for converting said wireless signals to and from said flow of communication messages (107)

4. System for monitoring straying a herd of beasts according to claim 1 - 3, wherein said ad-hoc communication network (100) comprises more than one said mobile unit (101 ) forming a plurality (101.1-n) of said mobile units

5. System for monitoring a straying herd of beasts according to claim A₁ wherein said flow of communication messages (107) comprises incoming and outgoing messages, wherein said incoming messages and said outgoing messages include, a message header (501), said header conforming to requirements of an ad-hoc network protocol (103) and displaying an identification mark of a beast or specific herd, said ad-hoc network protocol enabling transmission of said outgoing communications messages over said ad-hoc network to said plurality of mobile units (101 :1 -n); a message type (503), said message type having a pre-defined relationship to said mobile unit (101) beast characterization data; mobile unit location data (315), said mobile unit location data including latitude (507), longitude (509), and possibly but not necessarily also altitude (511 ) of said mobile unit, said mobile unit location data gathered by a GPS system (315); a counter (505) for controlling a retransmission count for said outgoing communication message; and a timestamp (513), said timestamp having a pre-defined relationship to a collection time of said mobile unit location data.

6 System for monitoring a straying herd of beasts according to claim 5, wherein said mobile unit beast characterization data system (201 ) further comprises, a communication message reception system (313) for receiving and unpacking said incoming communications messages from said ad-hoc network (100), said incoming messages containing said mobile unit beast characterization data; a signal strength detection system (305) for determining a signal strength of said incoming communications message; a beast monitor (31 1) for determining the condition of the beast; a message creation system (309) for creation an outgoing communications message, said outgoing communications message including said mobile unit beast characterization data;

7. System for monitoring a straying herd of beasts according to claim 6, wherein the said mobile unit beast characterization protocol system further comprises; a procedure control system (301) for controlling said sequencing, and a beast characterization database (303) for retaining mobile unit beast characterization data

8. System for monitoring a straying herd of beasts according to claim 1 , comprising a timer (307) switches the mobile unit (101) between inactive idle mode and an on active listening mode wherein in the said listening mode also scheduling execution of said message creation system for periodically transmitting said mobile unit beast characterization data is carried out