WO2013091135A1

WO2013091135A1 - Method and apparatus for facilitating gateway selection

Info

Publication number: WO2013091135A1
Application number: PCT/CN2011/002143
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Zou; Zhenhong Li; Haifeng Wang
Original assignee: Renesas Mobile Corporation
Priority date: 2011-12-20
Filing date: 2011-12-20
Publication date: 2013-06-27

Abstract

A method is provided for facilitating gateway selection. The method may include receiving, at a terminal apparatus, a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network. The missing sensor notification message may indicate a sensor node for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The method may further include determining whether any the indicated sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology. The method may additionally include, in an instance in which it is determined that the indicated sensor node is within signaling range, causing a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING GATEWAY SELECTION

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to wireless communication technology and, more particularly, relate to an apparatus, method and computer program product for facilitating gateway selection.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireless network technology, driven by consumer demands. This expansion of wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer and providing convenience to users. For example, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) comprising a plurality of sensor nodes with real-time monitoring and control capability are being developed for a wide range of application fields. However, WSNs have several disadvantages when deployed as independent systems. In this regard, WSNs and respective sensor nodes generally provide low mobility robustness, and are limited by a small coverage area, limited energy, and limited terminal functionality. As such, some efforts have been made to integrate WSNs with networks offering more mobility robustness and a larger coverage area, such as cellular networks. However, maintaining connectivity between sensor nodes of a WSN and a cellular network has proven problematic.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

[0003] Methods, apparatuses and computer program products are provided herein for facilitating gateway selection. Embodiments provided herein may provide several advantages to network providers, wireless service providers, computing devices, and computing device users. In this regard, some example embodiments facilitate selection of a terminal apparatus to serve as a gateway between a sensor node and a cellular network in an instance in which a connection between the sensor node and a terminal apparatus that had been serving as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network has been lost, such as due to mobility of the terminal apparatus that had been serving as a gateway for the sensor node. In accordance with some such example embodiments, selection of a terminal apparatus to serve as a gateway for the sensor node may be performed without the participation of the sensor node. Accordingly, battery life of sensor nodes that may be battery powered may be improved in embodiments wherein a sensor node is not required to send any messages to facilitate selection of a gateway for the sensor node, providing a longer sensor-network lifetime. Further, some example embodiments provide for selection of a gateway for each of a plurality of missing sensor node for which a terminal apparatus must be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network in a single round of information exchange between available terminal apparatuses and an access point for the cellular network. Accordingly, some example embodiments may provide for a reduced delay time for selection of a gateway, thus reducing an amount of sensor down time during which a sensor node may not be connected to the cellular network. Additionally, some such example embodiments may provide for a reduced burden on cellular network resources due to a reduced amount of over the air signaling between terminal apparatuses and a network access point to facilitate gateway selection.

[0004] In a first example embodiment, a method is provided, which may comprise receiving, at a terminal apparatus, a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network. The missing sensor notification message may indicate one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The method of this example embodiment may further comprise determining, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus. The method may additionally comprise, in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, causing a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

[0005] In another example embodiment, an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code is provided. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to at least receive a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network. The missing sensor notification message may indicate one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to determine, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the apparatus. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, additionally cause the apparatus of this example embodiment, in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, to cause a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

[0006] In a further example embodiment, a computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code stored therein is provided. The computer-readable program code may include instructions configured to cause an apparatus to receive a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network. The missing sensor notification message may indicate one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The computer-readable program code may further include instructions configured to cause the apparatus to determine, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the apparatus. The computer-readable program code may additionally include instructions configured to cause the apparatus, in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, to cause a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

[0007] In yet another example embodiment, an apparatus is provided, which may comprise means for receiving a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network. The missing sensor notification message may indicate one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The apparatus of this example embodiment may further comprise means for determining, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the apparatus. The apparatus of this example embodiment may additionally comprise means for, in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, causing a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

[0008] In still a further example embodiment, a method is provided, which may comprise receiving, at an access point for a cellular network, a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to the cellular network. The method of this example embodiment may further comprise causing a missing sensor notification message to be sent from the access point to a second terminal apparatus. The missing sensor notification message may indicate that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report. The method of this example embodiment may additionally comprise receiving, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus. The gateway serving request may indicate that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second terminal apparatus and request that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network. The method of this example embodiment may also comprise selecting the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request. The method of this example embodiment may further comprise causing a gateway serving response to be sent from the access point to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.

[0009] In another example embodiment, an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code is provided. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to at least receive a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to a cellular network. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to cause a missing sensor notification message to be sent to a second terminal apparatus. The missing sensor notification message may indicate that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, additionally cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to receive, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus. The gateway serving request may indicate that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second tenninal apparatus and request that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, also cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to select the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus of this example embodiment to cause a gateway serving response to be sent to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.

[0010] In a further example embodiment, a computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code stored therein is provided. The computer-readable program code may include instructions configured to cause an apparatus to receive a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to a cellular network. The computer-readable program code may further include instructions configured to cause the apparatus to cause a missing sensor notification message to be sent to a second terminal apparatus. The missing sensor notification message may indicate that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report. The computer-readable program code may additionally include instructions configured to cause the apparatus to receive, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus. The gateway serving request may indicate that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second terminal apparatus and request that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network. The computer-readable program code may also include instructions configured to cause the apparatus to select the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request. The computer-readable program code may further include instructions configured to cause the apparatus to cause a gateway serving response to be sent to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.

[0011] In yet another example embodiment, an apparatus is provided, which may comprise means for receiving a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to a cellular network. The apparatus of this example embodiment may further comprise means for causing a missing sensor notification message to be sent to a second terminal apparatus. The missing sensor notification message may indicate that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report. The apparatus of this example embodiment may additionally comprise means for receiving, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus. The gateway serving request may indicate that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second terminal apparatus and request that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network. The apparatus of this example embodiment may also comprise means for selecting the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request. The apparatus of this example embodiment may further comprise means for causing a gateway serving response to be sent to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.

[0012] The above summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some example embodiments of the invention so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above described example embodiments are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the invention in any way. It will be appreciated that the scope of the invention encompasses many potential embodiments, some of which will be further described below, in addition to those here summarized. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system supporting integration between a wireless sensor network and a cellular network in which some example embodiments may be applied;

[0015] FIGs. 2A and 2B illustrate an example of a sensor node becoming missing due to mobility of a serving gateway terminal apparatus;

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an access point in accordance with some example embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a terminal apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a signaling diagram of signals that may be exchanged to facilitate gateway selection in accordance with some example embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates an example result of the gateway selection process illustrated in FIG. 5;

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for facilitating gateway selection according to some example embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for reporting a missing sensor node according to some example embodiments; and

[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for facilitating gateway selection according to some example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, various embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. [0024] As used herein, the terms "data," "content," "information" and similar terms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of being transmitted, received, displayed and/or stored in accordance with various example embodiments. Thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, where a computing device is described herein to receive data from another computing device, it will be appreciated that the data may be received directly from the another computing device or may be received indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, and/or the like.

[0025] As used in this application, the term 'circuitry' refers to all of the following: (a)hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and (b) to combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to portions of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

[0026] This definition of 'circuitry' applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other network device.

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 supporting integration between a wireless sensor network and a cellular network in which some example embodiments may be applied. It will be appreciated that the system 100 as well as the illustrations in other figures are each provided as an example of an embodiment(s) and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the disclosure in any way. In this regard, the scope of the disclosure encompasses many potential embodiments in addition to those illustrated and described herein. As such, while FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a configuration of a system supporting integration between a wireless sensor network and a cellular network in which some example embodiments may be applied, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in systems having numerous other configurations. [0028] As illustrated in FIG. 1, an access point 102 may provide cellular network access to one or more terminal apparatuses, such as the terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 1 12, and 116. In the example of FIG. 1, the access point 102 is illustrated as being embodied as an evolved Node B (eNB). In this regard, the access point 102 may comprise an access point for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network. However, it will be appreciated that the access point 102 may comprise any type of cellular network access point, such as, a base station, base transceiver station, node B, and/or the like, Accordingly, it will be appreciated that embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to implementation in the context of LTE networks, but rather may be implemented with any type of cellular network employing one or more mobile access mechanisms, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE- A), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), CDMA2000, global system for mobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), and/or the like.

[0029] The terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 1 12, and 116 may each comprise any computing device having a cellular network interface that may support interfacing with the access point 102 in order to support cellular network access. By way of non-limiting example, the terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 112, and 116 may each respectively be embodied as a mobile communication device, mobile telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, tablet computing device, pager, laptop computer, desktop computer with a cellular network adapter, portable game device, positioning device, some combination thereof, or the like. In some example embodiments, the terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 1 12, and/or 1 16 may comprise user equipment (UE) devices. It will be appreciated, however, that illustrations and discussion referencing a UE(s) are provided by way of example, and not by way of limitation, as where examples are described and/or illustrated to use UEs, any type of terminal apparatus may be substituted for a UE within the scope of the disclosure.

[0030] The terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 112, and 1 16 may further comprise a wireless sensor network (WSN) interface configured to support communication with one or more sensor nodes via a WSN signaling technology. The WSN signaling technology may comprise any proximity-based wireless signaling technology which may be used for communication between a sensor node and a terminal apparatus. By way of non-limiting example, the WSN signaling technology(ies) that may be supported by the terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 1 12, and 116 may comprise Zigbee, Bluetooth, wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB), a communication technology in accordance with a version of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15 standard, Wi-Fi, a communication technology in accordance with a version of the IEEE 802.11 standard, a communication technology in accordance with the IEEE 1451 standard, and/or some other range limited wireless signaling technology that may be used for communication between a sensor node and a terminal apparatus when the sensor node and the terminal apparatus are within sufficient proximity of each other to be within range of the signaling technology.

[0031] As such, the terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 112, and 1 16 may comprise dual mode terminal apparatuses comprising both a wireless sensor network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and one or more sensor nodes using a WSN signaling technology and a cellular network interface configured to enable

communication between the terminal apparatuses and the cellular network. In accordance with some example embodiments, the dual mode terminal apparatuses 104, 108, 1 12, and/or 1 16 may utilize their dual mode capabilities to serve as a gateway between one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network so as to facilitate integration between the cellular network and a WSN. For example, in the system 100, the terminal apparatus 104 is illustrated to serve as a gateway between sensor nodes 106-1 , 106-2, 106-3, 106-4, 106-5, and 106-6 and the cellular network. In this regard, the sensor nodes 106-1 , 106-2, 106-3, 106-4, 106-5, and 106-6 are within a WSN coverage area 105 of the terminal apparatus 104. The WSN coverage area may be defined at least in part by a range of a WSN signaling technology used by the terminal apparatus 104. Accordingly, the terminal apparatus 104 may serve as a gateway for those sensor nodes within the coverage area 104 (e.g., those sensor nodes within sufficient proximity of the terminal apparatus 104 to be within the range of the WSN signaling technology used by the terminal apparatus 104). Similarly, the terminal apparatus 108 is illustrated to serve as a gateway for sensor nodes 1 10-1 and 1 10-2, and the terminal apparatus 1 12 is illustrated to serve as a gateway to the sensor nodes 114-1, 1 14-2, 1 14-3, 1 14-4, and 1 14-5. The terminal apparatus 116 is not illustrated to serve as a gateway for any sensor nodes in FIG. 1. However, if one or more sensor nodes were within a WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 1 16, then the terminal apparatus 1 16 may serve as a gateway for those sensor nodes.

[0032] The terminal apparatuses 104, 108, and 112 serving as mobile gateways for sensor nodes may, for example, receive/collect data from their associated sensor nodes by way of WSN signaling and pass the collected data on to the remote controller/sink 120 over the cellular network by way of cellular signaling to the access point 102. In this regard, the remote controller/sink 120 may comprise any entity accessible over the cellular network which may collect data from and/or send data to one or more sensor nodes having a connection to the cellular network by way of a terminal apparatus serving as a gateway to the cellular network. The remote controller/sink 120 may be configured to communicate with the cellular network to receive data from/send data to sensor nodes via the core network 1 8, which may comprise a core portion of the cellular network, one or more wireless networks, one or more wireline networks, at least a portion of the Internet, some combination thereof, or the like. In the downlink direction, a terminal apparatus serving as a gateway in some example embodiments may receive control information from the remote controll er/sink 120 through a cellular link to the access point 102 and then forward the control information to the destined sensor node by way of WSN signaling.

[0033] When a terminal apparatus serving as a gateway is moving, its WSN coverage is moving with it. In this regard, the WSN coverage of a terminal apparatus, such as the coverage area 105 of the terminal apparatus 104, may be defined of a signaling range of a WSN signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus. While in some instances a terminal apparatus may slightly enlarge its WSN coverage, such actions may be relatively limited due to factors such as power constraints, hardware constraints affecting a

transmission power of the terminal apparatus, regulations affecting usage of wireless frequency space, and/or other factors such that a terminal apparatus may not be able to increase its transmission power freely in the WSN band to cover all sensor nodes to which it wants to connect. Accordingly, as a terminal apparatus serving as a gateway for one or more sensor nodes moves away from a sensor node, it may lose a connection with that sensor node. A sensor node served by a gateway terminal apparatus with which the serving gateway terminal apparatus has lost contact may be referred to as a "missing" sensor node.

[0034] FIGs. 2A and 2B illustrate an example of a sensor node becoming missing due to mobility of a serving gateway terminal apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the terminal apparatus 202 (UE1) may serve as a gateway fir sensor nodes 208, 210, 212, and 214, which may be positioned within a WSN coverage area 204 of the terminal apparatus 202. The terminal apparatus 202 may be moving away from the sensor nodes 208 and 212, as indicated by the direction arrow 206. After some amount of movement, the coverage area 204 of the terminal apparatus 202 may have shifted such that the sensor node 208 and the sensor node 212 may be positioned outside of the coverage area 204, as illustrated in FIG. 2B.

Accordingly, the terminal apparatus 202 can no longer hear the sensor nodes 208 and 212, and the sensor nodes 208 and 212 can no longer hear their serving gateway terminal apparatus 202, [0035] The sensor nodes 208 and/or 212 may be within the WSN coverage area of one or more of the terminal apparatus 216 (UE2), terminal apparatus 218 (UE3), or terminal apparatus 220 (UE4). Accordingly, provided the sensor nodes 208 and 212 are within the WSN coverage area of one or more of the terminal apparatuses 216, 218, and 220, one of these terminal apparatuses may be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node 208 and/or sensor node 212. Some example embodiments provided herein facilitate selection of a terminal apparatus to serve as a gateway for a missing sensor node in a scenario such as that illustrated in FIG. 2B.

[0036] As such, by way of example, the access point apparatus 302 may comprise an access point for a cellular network, such as a base station, base transceiver station, node B, evolved node B (eNB), and/or the like. In some example embodiments described herein, the access point 102 may comprise an eNB configured to provide access to an LTE network (e.g., an LTE network, LTE-Advanced network, or a network using some other present or future implementation of an LTE technology). It will be appreciated, however, that embodiments are not limited to implementation in a cellular network utilizing an LTE technology, In this regard, example embodiments of the access point apparatus 302 and other devices and apparatuses disclosed herein may be employed in accordance with any wireless networking technology, protocol, or standard that is currently implemented, or which may be developed in the future in which multicasting and D2D communication may be supported.

[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an access point apparatus 302 in accordance with some example embodiments. However, it should be noted that the components, devices or elements illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 3 below may not be mandatory and thus some may be omitted in certain embodiments. Additionally, some embodiments may include further or different components, devices or elements beyond those illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 3.

[0038] FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus that may comprise or be employed on a cellular network access point, such as the access point 102, and which may be configured to perform at least some of the functionality of an access point as described herein. As such, by way of example, the access point apparatus 302 may comprise or be implemented on an eNB, node B, base station, base transceiver station, and/or other cellular network access point. Although illustrated as a single entity, in some example embodiments, the access point apparatus 302 may further comprise one or more supporting cellular network nodes or other entities. As such, it will be appreciated that functionalities attributed to the access point apparatus 302 in accordance with various example embodiments may, in some example embodiments be performed by multiple apparatuses, whic may act in concert to provide functionalities attributed to the access point apparatus 302.

[0039] The access point apparatus 302 may include or otherwise be in communication with processing circuitry 310 that is configurable to perform actions in accordance with one or more example embodiments disclosed herein. In this regard, the processing circuitry 310 may be configured to perform and/or control performance of one or more functionalities of the access point apparatus 302 in accordance with various example embodiments, and thus may provide means for performing functionalities of the access point apparatus 302 in accordance with various example embodiments. The processing circuitry 310 may be configured to perform data processing, application execution and/or other processing and management services according to one or more example embodiments. In some

embodiments, the access point apparatus 302 or a portion(s) or component(s) thereof, such as the processing circuitry 310, may be embodied as or comprise a chip or chip set. In other words, the access point apparatus 302 or the processing circuitry 310 may comprise one or more physical packages (e.g., chips) including materials, components and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a baseboard). The structural assembly may provide physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction for component circuitry included thereon. The access point apparatus 302 or the processing circuitry 310 may therefore, in some cases, be configured to implement an embodiment of the invention on a single chip or as a single "system on a chip." As such, in some cases, a chip or chipset may constitute means for performing one or more operations for providing the functionalities described herein.

[0040] In some example embodiments, the processing circuitry 310 may include a processor 312 and, in some embodiments, such as that illustrated in FIG. 3, may further include memory 314. The processing circuitry 310 may be in communication with or otherwise control a communication interface 318 and/or a gateway selection controller 320. The processing circuitry 310 may be embodied as a circuit chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip) configured (e.g., with hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software) to perform operations described herein. However, in some embodiments, the processing circuitry 310 may be embodied as a portion of a server, computer, workstation or other computing device.

[0041] The processor 312 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor 312 may be embodied as various processing means such as one or more of a microprocessor or other processing element, a coprocessor, a controller or various other computing or processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or the like. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciated that the processor 312 may comprise a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may be in operative

communication with each other and may be collectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of the access point apparatus 302 as described herein. The plurality of processors may be embodied on a single computing device or distributed across a plurality of computing devices collectively configured to function as the access point apparatus 302. In some example embodiments, the processor 312 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 314 or otherwise accessible to the processor 312. As such, whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor 312 may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied in circuitry - in the form of processing circuitry 310) capable of performing operations according to embodiments of the present invention while configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor 312 is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or the like, the processor 312 may be specifically configured hardware for conducting the operations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor 312 is embodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processor 312 to perform one or more operations described herein.

[0042] In some example embodiments, the memory 314 may include one or more non- transitory memory devices such as, for example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory that may be either fixed or removable. In this regard, the memory 314 may comprise a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium. It will be appreciated that while the memory 314 is illustrated as a single memory, the memory 314 may comprise a plurality of memories. The plurality of memories may be embodied on a single computing device or may be distributed across a plurality of computing devices collectively configured to function as the access point apparatus 302. The memory 314 may be configured to store information, data, applications, instructions or the like for enabling the access point apparatus 302 to carry out various functions in accordance with one or more example embodiments. For example, the memory 314 may be configured to buffer input data for processing by the processor 312. Additionally or alternatively, the memory 314 may be configured to store instructions for execution by the processor 312. As yet another alternative, the memory 314 may include one or more databases that may store a variety of files, contents or data sets. Among the contents of the memory 314, applications may be stored for execution by the processor 312 in order to carry out the functionality associated with each respective application. In some cases, the memory 314 may be in communication with one or more of the processor 312,

communication interface 318, or routing controller 220 via a bus(es) for passing information among components of the access point apparatus 302.

[0043] The communication interface 318 may include one or more interface mechanisms for enabling communication with other devices and/or networks. In some example

embodiments, the communication interface 318 may be any means such as a device or circuitry embodied in either hardware, or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit data from/to a network and/or any other device or module that may be in communication with the processing circuitry 310. By way of example, the communication interface 318 may be configured to facilitate over-the-air cellular communications between one or more terminal apparatuses (e.g., the terminal apparatus 104, terminal apparatus 108, terminal apparatus 112, terminal apparatus 1 16, terminal apparatus 402 illustrated in FIG. 4, and/or the like) and the access point apparatus 302. By way of further example, the communication interface 318 may be further configured to facilitate communication with a cellular core network such that data may be communicated between a terminal apparatus and one or more other network-connected apparatuses, such as a remote controller/sink 120. The communication interface 318 may accordingly include, for example, an antenna (or multiple antennas) and supporting hardware and/or software for enabling communications with a wireless communication network and/or a communication modem or other hardware/software for supporting communication via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), universal serial bus (USB), Ethernet or other methods.

[0044] In some example embodiments, the processor 312 (or the processing circuitry 310) may be embodied as, include, or otherwise control a gateway selection controller 320. As such, the gateway selection controller 320 may be embodied as various means, such as circuitry, hardware, a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium (for example, the memory 314) storing computer readable program instructions executable by a processing device (for example, the processor 312), or some combination thereof. The gateway selection controller 320 may be capable of communication with one or more of the memory 314 or communication interface 318 to access, receive, and/or send data as may be needed to perform one or more of the functionalities of the gateway selection controller 320 as described herein.

[0045] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a terminal apparatus 402 in accordance with some example embodiments. However, it should be noted that the components, devices or elements illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 4 below may not be mandatory and thus some may be omitted in certain embodiments. Additionally, some embodiments may include further or different components, devices or elements beyond those illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 4.

[0046] The terminal apparatus 402 may comprise an apparatus that may be implemented on any dual mode terminal apparatus configured to access a cellular network and to communicate with a WSN. By way of non-limiting example, the terminal apparatus 402 may be implemented on a mobile communication device, mobile telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, tablet computing device, pager, laptop computer, desktop computer with a cellular network adapter, portable game device, positioning device, some combination thereof, or the like. The terminal apparatus 402 may, for example, be implemented on the terminal apparatus 104, terminal apparatus 106, terminal apparatus 1 12, terminal apparatus 1 16, terminal apparatus 202, terminal apparatus 216, terminal apparatus 218, tem inal apparatus 220, and/or the like.

[0047] Referring now to FIG. 4, the terminal apparatus 402 may include or otherwise be in communication with processing circuitry 410 that is configurable to perform actions in accordance with one or more example embodiments disclosed herein. In this regard, the processing circuitry 410 may be configured to perform and/or control performance of one or more functionalities of the terminal apparatus 402 in accordance with various example embodiments, and thus may provide means for performing functionalities of the terminal apparatus 402 in accordance with various example embodiments. The processing circuitry 410 may be configured to perform data processing, application execution and/or other processing and management services according to one or more example embodiments. In some embodiments, the terminal apparatus 402 or a portion(s) or component(s) thereof, such as the processing circuitry 410, may be embodied as or comprise a chip or chip set. In other words, the terminal apparatus 402 or the processing circuitry 410 may comprise one or more physical packages (e.g., chips) including materials, components and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a baseboard). The structural assembly may provide physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction for component circuitry included thereon. The terminal apparatus 402 or the processing circuitry 410 may therefore, in some cases, be configured to implement an embodiment of the invention on a single chip or as a single "system on a chip." As such, in some cases, a chip or chipset may constitute means for performing one or more operations for providing the functionalities described herein. [0048] In some example embodiments, the processing circuitry 410 may include a processor 412 and, in some embodiments, such as that illustrated in FIG. 4, may further include memory 414. The processing circuitry 410 may be in communication with or otherwise control a user interface 416, a communication interface 418, and/or a gateway service manager 420. As such, the processing circuitry 410 may be embodied as a circuit chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip) configured (e.g., with hardware, software or a

combination of hardware and software) to perform operations described herein.

[0049] The processor 412 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor 412 may be embodied as various processing means such as one or more of a microprocessor or other processing element, a coprocessor, a controller or various other computing or processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or the like. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciated that the processor 412 may comprise a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may be in operative

communication with each other and may be collectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of the terminal apparatus 402 as described herein. The plurality of processors may be embodied on a single computing device or distributed across a plurality of computing devices collectively configured to function as the terminal apparatus 402. In some example embodiments, the processor 412 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 414 or otherwise accessible to the processor 412. As such, whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor 412 may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied in circuitry - in the form of processing circuitry 410) capable of performing operations according to embodiments of the present invention while configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor 412 is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or the like, the processor 412 may be specifically configured hardware for conducting the operations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor 412 is embodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processor 412 to perform one or more operations described herein.

[0050] In some example embodiments, the memory 414 may include one or more non- transitory memory devices such as, for example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory that may be either fixed or removable. In this regard, the memory 414 may comprise a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium. It will be appreciated that while the memory 414 is illustrated as a single memory, the memory 414 may comprise a plurality of memories. The plurality of memories may be embodied on a single computing device or may be distributed across a plurality of computing devices collectively configured to function as the terminal apparatus 402. The memory 414 may be configured to store information, data, applications, instructions or the like for enabling the terminal apparatus 402 to carry out various functions in accordance with one or more example embodiments. For example, the memory 414 may be configured to buffer input data for processing by the processor 412. Additionally or alternatively, the memory 414 may be configured to store instructions for execution by the processor 412. As yet another alternative, the memory 414 may include one or more databases that may store a variety of files, contents or data sets. Among the contents of the memory 414, applications may be stored for execution by the processor 412 in order to carry out the functionality associated with each respective application. In some cases, the memory 414 may be in communication with one or more of the processor 412, user interface 416, communication interface 418, or gateway service manager 420 via a bus(es) for passing information among components of the terminal apparatus 402.

[0051] The user interface 416 (if implemented) may be in communication with the processing circuitry 410 to receive an indication of a user input at the user interface 416 and/or to provide an audible, visual, mechanical or other output to the user. As such, the user interface 416 may include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a display, a touch screen, a microphone, a speaker, and/or other input/output mechanisms.

[0052] The communication interface 418 may include one or more interface mechanisms for enabling communication with other devices and/or networks. In some cases, the communication interface 418 may be any means such as a device or circuitry embodied in either hardware, or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit data from/to a network and/or any other device or module in communication with the processing circuitry 410. By way of example, the communication interface 418 may be configured to provide a cellular network interface to enable the terminal apparatus 402 to interface with a cellular network, such as via an access point apparatus 302, As another example, the communication interface 418 may be configured to provide a WSN interface to enable the terminal apparatus 402 to interface with one or more sensor nodes via a WSN signaling technology. In embodiments in which the communication interface 418 is configured to provide a WSN interface, the communication interface 418 may be configured to support communications via any of a variety of WSN signaling technologies, such as Zigbee, Bluetooth, wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB), a communication technology in accordance with a version of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15 standard, Wi-Fi, a communication technology in accordance with a version of the IEEE 802.1 1 standard, a communication technology in accordance with the IEEE 1451 standard, and/or some other range limited wireless signaling technology that may be used for communication between a sensor node and the terminal apparatus when the sensor node and the terminal apparatus are within sufficient proximity of each other to be within range of the signaling technology. The communication interface 418 may accordingly provide means for enabling the terminal apparatus 402 to function as a dual mode terminal such that the terminal apparatus 402 may function as a gateway between a cellular network and a wireless sensor network. The communication interface 418 may include, for example, an antenna (or multiple antennas) and supporting hardware and/or software for enabling communications with a wireless communication network (e.g., a cellular network, WSN, and/or the like) and/or a communication modem or other hardware/software for supporting communication via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), universal serial bus (USB), Ethernet or other methods.

[0053] In some example embodiments, the processor 412 (or the processing circuitry 410) may be embodied as, include, or otherwise control a gateway service manager 420. As such, the gateway service manager 420 may be embodied as various means, such as circuitry, hardware, a computer program product comprising computer readable program instructions stored on a computer readable medium (for example, the memory 414) and executed by a processing device (for example, the processor 412), or some combination thereof. The gateway service manager 420 may be capable of communication with one or more of the memory 414, user interface 416, or communication interface 418 to access, receive, and/or send data as may be needed to perform one or more of the functionalities of the gateway service manager 420 as described herein.

[0054] In some example embodiments, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine the identity(ies) of any sensor node(s) within the signaling range of a WSN signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus 402. In this regard, a sensor node within range of a WSN signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus 402 may be within a WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 402 and, thus, may be heard by the terminal apparatus 402. Accordingly, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine a sensor node within the signaling range of a WSN signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus 402 by determining that a sensor node is heard by the terminal apparatus 402. A sensor node may be heard by the terminal apparatus 402 through passive listening via a WSN interface of the terminal apparatus 402 for transmissions by a sensor node and/or by listening for a sensor node to respond to active polling of the sensor node by the terminal apparatus 402. In the example illustration of FIG. l , the sensor nodes 106-1 , 106-2, 106-3, 106-4, 106-5, and 106-6 may be determined to be within the WSN signaling range of the terminal apparatus 104. Similarly, in FIG. 2A, the sensor nodes 208, 210, 212, and 214 may be determined to be within the WSN signaling range of the terminal apparatus 202, while in FIG. 2B only the sensor nodes 210 and 214 may be determined to be within the WSN signaling range of the terminal apparatus 202.

[0055] In some example embodiments, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to maintain a potential serving list of any sensor nodes determined to be within WSN signaling range of the terminal apparatus 402. The potential serving list may accordingly comprise a list of any sensor nodes for which the terminal apparatus 402 may serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The potential serving list may include an identity, such as a Media Access Control (MAC) address, of the sensor nodes determined to within WSN signaling range of the terminal apparatus 402. The identities maintained in the potential serving list may, for example, comprise identities defined in accordance with the WSN signaling technology supported for communications between the terminal apparatus 402 and sensor nodes of a WSN. Thus, for example, where the maintained identities comprise MAC addresses, the MAC addresses may comprise 64-bit addresses, 16-bit addresses, and/or the like, such as may be defined in Zigbee.

[0056] In some example embodiments, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to ensure the freshness of a potential serving list. Thus, for example, if a sensor node in the potential serving list is not heard for a predefined period of time (e.g., a live time), the sensor node (e.g., the MAC address or other identity of the sensor node) may be removed from the potential serving list. In some example embodiments, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to use polling to poll a sensor node that has not been heard from for a live time to verify that the sensor node is no longer within a WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 402.

[0057] In some example embodiments, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine whether a sensor node for which the terminal apparatus 402 may be serving as a gateway to the cellular network has gone missing. In this regard, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine whether a sensor node for which the terminal apparatus 402 may be serving as a gateway is no longer within a WSN signaling range of the terminal apparatus 402. In some embodiments in which the gateway service manager 420 is configured to maintain a potential serving list, the potential serving list may contain a list of all sensor nodes heard by the terminal apparatus 402, including both any sensor nodes for which the terminal apparatus 402 is serving as a gateway, as well as those sensor nodes for which the terminal apparatus 402 is not currently, but may serve as a gateway. Accordingly, in some example embodiments, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine that a sensor node for which the terminal apparatus 402 is serving as a gateway is missing in response to the sensor node being removed from the potential serving list. In some example embodiments, if the gateway service manager 420 determines that a sensor node for which the terminal apparatus 402 is serving as a gateway is missing, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to poll the missing sensor node to verify that the sensor node cannot be heard anymore and is missing.

[0058] In an instance in which a sensor node for which the terminal apparatus 402 is serving as a gateway to the cellular network is determined to be missing, the gateway service manager 420 of some example embodiments may be configured to format and send a missing sensor report message to the cellular network access point (e.g., an access point apparatus 302). The missing sensor report message may include the identity(ies) (e.g., MAC addresses) of the missing sensor node(s), indicating that the terminal apparatus 402 no longer has contact with the indicated missing sensor node(s) for which the terminal apparatus 402 had been serving as a gateway to the cellular network.

[0059] In some example embodiments, the gateway selection controller 320 that may be associated with a cellular network access point may be configured to receive a missing sensor report message, and may initiate a gateway selection process in response to receipt of the missing sensor report message to select a new gateway(s) for the sensor(s) indicated in the missing sensor report. In this regard, the gateway selection controller 320 may determine the identity(ies) of the sensor node(s) indicated to be missing in the missing sensor report message. The gateway selection controller 320 may be further configured to format and send a missing sensor notification message to one or more terminal apparatuses. The missing sensor notification may include an indication of the identity(ies), such as the MAC address(es), of the missing sensor node(s), and may indicate that a new terminal apparatus needs to be selected to serve as a gateway for the missing sensor node(s),

[0060] In some example embodiments, the gateway selection controller 320 may be configured to cause the access point apparatus 302 to broadcast a missing sensor notification message to terminal apparatuses in a coverage area that may be served by the access point apparatus 302, Additionally or alternatively, the gateway selection controller 320 may be configured to cause the access point apparatus 302 to selectively send a missing sensor notification message to terminal apparatuses known to be within a defined proximity of a known location of the missing sensor node(s). [0061] The gateway service manager 420 associated with a terminal apparatus 402 receiving a missing sensor notification message may be configured to initiate a gateway request process at the terminal apparatus 402 in response to receipt of the missing sensor notification message. In this regard, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured, in response to the missing sensor notification message, to determine whether any of the missing sensor node(s) are within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 402 so as to determine whether the terminal apparatus 402 may serve as a gateway for the missing sensor nodes. In some example embodiments in which the gateway service manger 420 is configured to maintain a potential serving list, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine whether any of the missing sensor node(s) are within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 402 by consulting the potential serving list.

Additionally or alternatively, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to listen for and/or poll a missing sensor node to determine if the missing sensor node is within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 402.

[0062] In some example embodiments, the gateway service manger 420 may be configured, in an instance in which it is determined that one or more missing sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus, to cause a gateway serving request message to be sent via the cellular network interface to the cellular network access point requesting that the terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network, The gateway serving request message may accordingly include an indication of the identity(ies) (e.g., the MAC address(es)) of the missing sensor node(s) which are determined to be within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus.

[0063] The gateway selection controller 320 may be configured to receive a gateway serving request message sent to the access point apparatus 302 in response to a missing sensor notification message. In some instances, multiple gateway serving request messages may be received. For example, there may be multiple missing sensors and there may not be a single terminal apparatus which may serve all of the missing sensor nodes. Accordingly, for example, a gateway serving request message may be received from a first terminal apparatus which may serve a first subset of the missing sensor nodes and a second gateway serving request may be received from a second terminal apparatus which may serve a second subset of the missing sensor nodes. As another example, a gateway serving request message identifying the same missing sensor node may be received from each of a plurality of terminal apparatuses that may serve as a gateway for the sensor node. [0064] The gateway selection controller 320 may be further configured to utilize the received gateway serving request message(s) to select a terminal apparatus 402 to serve as a gateway for the missing sensor node(s). In instances in which multiple terminal apparatuses may serve as a gateway for a respective sensor node, the gateway selection controller 320 may be configured to select one of the terminal apparatuses to serve as a gateway for the sensor node. In such instances, selection of a terminal apparatus to serve as a gateway for a sensor node may be performed randomly in some example embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, in some example embodiments, in instances in which multiple terminal apparatuses may serve as a gateway for a respective sensor node, the selection or may be performed based on selection criteria. For example, if one or more of the terminal apparatuses is battery powered and remaining battery power in the terminal apparatuses is known to the gateway selection controller 320, the terminal apparatus having the greatest amount of battery power remaining may be selected as gateway. As another example, if channel quality information indicative of a channel quality between the terminal apparatuses and the sensor node is reported in the received gateway serving request messages and/or is otherwise known to the gateway selection controller 320, the gateway selection controller 320 may select the terminal apparatus having the highest channel quality to the sensor node.

[0065] The gateway selection controller 320 may be further configured to format a gateway serving response message to inform a terminal apparatus that has been selected to serve as a gateway for one or more sensor nodes and send the gateway serving response message to the selected terminal apparatus. The gateway serving response message may indicate the identity(ies) (e.g., the MAC address(es)) of the sensor node(s) for which the terminal apparatus has been selected to serve as a gateway.

[0066] A gateway service manager 420 associated with a terminal apparatus 402 receiving a gateway serving response message may be configured to determine the sensor node(s) indicated in the gateway serving response message for which the terminal apparatus has been selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The gateway service manager 420 may be further configured to cause the terminal apparatus 420 to serve as a gateway between the sensor node(s) indicated in the gateway serving response message and the cellular network.

[0067] In some example embodiments, mechanisms may be implemented to reduce the amount of cellular signaling during a gateway selection process. In this regard, there may be several terminal apparatuses near a missing sensor node, each of which may activate a gateway request process responsive to a missing sensor notification. However, if all of the terminal apparatuses near the missing sensor node send a gateway serving request to the cellular network access via cellular signaling, it may consume a large amount of cellular resources, thus placing a burden on the serving cellular network.

[0068] Accordingly, in some example embodiments, a gateway service manager 420 may be configured, prior to sending a gateway serving request to an access point using cellular network signaling, to send a gateway pre-request message via a WSN interface using WSN signaling, such as Zigbee signaling. The gateway pre-request message may be received by terminal apparatuses within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus sending the gateway pre-request message, The gateway pre-request message may indicate the identity(ies) (e.g., MAC address(es)) of the missing sensor node(s) for which the terminal apparatus sending the gateway pre-request message intends to request serve as gateway, and may be configured to prevent any further terminal apparatus receiving the gateway pre-request message from sending a request to the access point requesting to serve as a gateway for the missing sensor node(s) indicated in the gateway pre-request message.

[0069] A gateway service manager 420 associated with a terminal apparatus receiving a gateway pre-request message may accordingly be configured to determine whether the received gateway pre-request message indicates an identity(ies) (e.g., the MAC address(es)) of any missing sensor nodes which the terminal apparatus receiving the gateway pre-request message may serve (e.g., a missing sensor node within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus). If the gateway pre-request message does indicate an identity of a missing sensor node which the terminal apparatus may serve, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to determine to not request to serve as a gateway for that sensor node. Thus, for example, if a terminal apparatus may serve two missing sensor nodes, but receives a gateway pre-request message indicating that a further terminal apparatus is requesting to serve one of the two missing sensor nodes, the terminal apparatus may only request to serve the senor node that is not indicated in the gateway pre-request message. If a terminal apparatus receives one or more gateway pre-request messages that collectively indicate each missing sensor node within the WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus, the gateway service manager 420 may be configured to terminate a gateway request process without sending a gateway request message to the cellular network access point.

[0070] Accordingly, embodiments using gateway pre-request messages may reduce cellular the amount of signaling used for gateway selection by reducing the number of gateway serving requests transmitted over cellular resources. In this regard, while the number of terminal apparatuses receiving a missing sensor notification message and activating a gateway request process in response to the missing sensor notification message may be quite large, many of the terminal apparatuses may terminate the gateway request process prior to sending a gateway serving request message over cellular resource because another terminal apparatus(es) may have already requested to serve the missing sensor node(s) which may be served by the terminal apparatuses.

[0071] In some example embodiments, the WSN signaling technology used by terminal apparatuses may comprise a contention-based mechanism, such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA). Usage of such a contention-based

mechanism in some example embodiments may improve the chance that a terminal apparatus may receive a gateway pre-request by reducing the likelihood of simultaneous transmissions over WSN signaling resources.

[0072] Having now described the operation of several example embodiments, gateway selection in accordance with some example embodiments within the context of the scenario illustrated in FIGs. 2 A and 2B will now be discussed in the context of FIG. 5. In this regard, FIG. 5 illustrates a signaling diagram of signals that may be exchanged to facilitate gateway selection in accordance with some example embodiments. More particularly, FIG. 5 illustrates signals that may be exchanged among the terminal apparatus 202 (UE1), terminal apparatus 216 (UE2), terminal apparatus 218 (UE3), terminal apparatus 220 (UE4), and the eNB 502. The eNB 502 may, for example, comprise an embodiment of the access point apparatus 302. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the terminal apparatus 202 may be serving as a gateway for several sensor nodes, including the sensor nodes 208, 210, 212, and 214. After mobility of the terminal apparatus 202, the sensor nodes 208 and 212 may no longer be within the WSN coverage area 204 of the terminal apparatus 202, as illustrated in FIG. 2B. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 5, operation 505 may comprise the terminal apparatus 202 detecting the sensor nodes 208 and 212 to be missing sensor nodes. At operation 510, the terminal apparatus 202 may send a missing sensor report identifying the sensor nodes 208 and 212 to the eNB 502 via cellular network signaling.

[0073] The eNB 502 may receive the missing sensor report. In response to receiving the missing sensor report, the eNB 502 may send a missing sensor notification via cellular network signaling to the terminal apparatuses 216, 218, and 220 indicating that a new gateway needs to be selected for the sensor nodes 208 and 212, at operation 520. The terminal apparatuses 216, 218, and 220 may receive the missing sensor notification message. Each of the terminal apparatuses 216, 218, and 220 may activate a gateway request process in response to receipt of the missing sensor notification message, and may determine whether either or both of the sensor node 208 or sensor node 212 are within signaling range of the supported WSN signaling technology. In this regard, for example, operation 525 may comprise the terminal apparatus 218 determining whether either or both of the sensor node 208 or sensor node 212 are in a potential serving list that may be maintained by the terminal apparatus 218. Similarly, operation 530 may comprise the terminal apparatus 216 determining whether either or both of the sensor node 208 or sensor node 212 are in a potential serving list that may be maintained by the terminal apparatus 216.

[0074] The terminal apparatus 218 may determine that it may serve both the sensor node 208 and the sensor node 212. Operation 535 may comprise the terminal apparatus 218 sending a gateway pre-request message via WSN signaling indicating that the terminal apparatus 218 is requesting to be selected to serve as a gateway for the sensor nodes 208 and 212. The terminal apparatus 216 may receive the gateway pre-request message sent by the terminal apparatus 218. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the terminal apparatus 220 may not receive the gateway pre-request message sent by the terminal apparatus 218. In this regard, the terminal apparatus 220 may not be positioned within a WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 218 and, thus, may not be within sufficient proximity of the terminal apparatus 218 to receive the gateway pre-request message,

[0075] The terminal apparatus 216 may determine based on the gateway pre-request message received from the terminal apparatus 218 that the terminal apparatus 218 has requested to serve each of the missing sensor nodes for which the terminal apparatus 216 may serve as a gateway. The terminal apparatus 216 may accordingly deactivate its gateway request process at operation 540, and may continue to function as a UE on the cellular network. Operation 545 may comprise the terminal apparatus 218 sending a gateway serving request message to the eNB 502 requesting that the terminal apparatus 218 be selected to serve as a gateway for the sensor node 208 and sensor node 212.

[0076] As the terminal apparatus 220 may not have received the gateway pre-request message sent by the terminal apparatus 218 at operation 535, a gateway request process may be ongoing at the terminal apparatus 220. The terminal apparatus 220 may determine that one or more of the sensor nodes 208 and 212 are within a WSN coverage area of the terminal apparatus 220, and may send a gateway pre-request message via WSN signaling, at operation 550. This gateway pre-request message may be received by the terminal apparatus 216. However, as the terminal apparatus 216 has already terminated its gateway request process, the message may be ignored. The terminal apparatus 220 may further send a gateway serving request message to the eNB 502 via cellular signaling, at operation 555. [0077] Operation 560 may comprise the eNB 502 selecting a gateway for the sensor node 208 and sensor node 212. The eNB 502 may send a gateway serving response to one or more of the terminal apparatuses 216, 218, and 220 indicating the terminal apparatus(es) selected to serve as a gateway, at operation 565. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the terminal apparatus 218 is selected to serve as a gateway for both the sensor node 208 and the sensor node 212. Accordingly, operation 570 may comprise the terminal apparatus 218 working as the new gateway for the sensor nodes 208 and 212 in response to the gateway serving response. Since the terminal apparatus 220 has not been selected to serve as a gateway for any of the missing sensor nodes, the terminal apparatus 220 may terminate deactivate its gateway request process at operation 575 and continue to function as a UE on the cellular network.

[0078] Referring now to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates an example result of the gateway selection process illustrated in FIG. 5. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the sensor nodes 208 and 212 may be within the WSN coverage area 604 of the terminal apparatus 218, which may serve as a gateway between the sensor nodes 208 and 212 and the cellular network. The sensor nodes 210 and 214 may remain within the WSN coverage area 204 of the terminal apparatus 202, which may continue to serve as a gateway for the sensor nodes 210 and 214.

[0079] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for facilitating gateway selection according to some example embodiments. In this regard, FIG. 7 illustrates operations that may be performed at the access point apparatus 302. The operations illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 7 may, for example, be performed by, with the assistance of, and/or under the control of one or more of the processing circuitry 310, processor 312, memory 314, communication interface 318, or gateway selection controller 320. Operation 700 may comprise receiving a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to a cellular network. The processing circuitry 310, processor 312, memory 314, communication interface 318, and/or gateway selection controller 320 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 700. Operation 710 may comprise causing a missing sensor notification message indicating that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the missing sensor node(s) to be sent to one or more further terminal apparatuses, including a second terminal apparatus. The missing sensor notification message may, for example, be broadcast to the at least one second terminal apparatus, or may be selectively transmitted (e.g., unicast) to each of the at least one second terminal apparatus. The processing circuitry 310, processor 312, memory 314, communication interface 318, and/or gateway selection controller 320 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 710. Operation 720 may comprise receiving, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus requesting to be selected to serve as a gateway between a missing sensor nodes and the cellular network. The processing circuitry 310, processor 312, memory 314, communication interface 318, and/or gateway selection controller 320 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 720. Operation 730 may comprise selecting the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request. The processing circuitry 310, processor 312, memory 314, and/or gateway selection controller 320 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 730. Operation 740 may comprise causing a gateway serving response to be sent to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that it has been selected to serve as a gateway for the missing sensor node. The processing circuitry 310, processor 312, memory 314, communication interface 318, and/or gateway selection controller 320 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 740.

[0080] Referring now to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for reporting a missing sensor node according to some example embodiments. In this regard, FIG. 8 illustrates operations that may be performed at a terminal apparatus 402. The operations illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 8 may, for example, be performed by, with the assistance of, and/or under the control of one or more of the processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, or gateway service manager 420. Operation 800 may comprise determining that connection with a sensor node(s) for which the terminal apparatus was serving as a gateway to a cellular network has been lost. The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 800. Operation 810 may comprise causing a missing sensor report to be sent to an access point for the cellular network identifying the missing sensor node(s) to trigger selection of a new gateway for the missing sensor node(s). The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 810.

[0081] Referring now to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for facilitating gateway selection according to some example embodiments. In this regard, FIG. 9 illustrates operations that may be performed at a terminal apparatus 402. The operations illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 9 may, for example, be performed by, with the assistance of, and/or under the control of one or more of the processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, or gateway service manager 420. Operation 900 may comprise receiving a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network, the missing sensor notification message indicating one or more missing sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network. The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414,

communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 900. Operation 910 may comprise determining, in response to the missing sensor notification message, that one or more of the missing sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus. The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 910. Operation 920 may comprise causing a gateway serving request to be sent to the network access point requesting that the terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more missing sensor nodes and the cellular network. The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 920.

[0082] The method may optionally further comprise operation 930, which may comprise receiving, in response to the gateway serving request, a gateway serving response from the access point selecting the terminal apparatus to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes. The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 930. Operation 940 may comprise responsive to the gateway serving response, causing the terminal apparatus to serve as gateway between the sensor node(s) for which the terminal apparatus was selected to serve as a gateway and the cellular network. The processing circuitry 410, processor 412, memory 414, communication interface 418, and/or gateway service manager 420 may, for example, provide means for performing operation 940.

[0083] FIGS. 7-9 are flowcharts of a system, method and program product according to example embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts, may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, processor, circuitry and/or other device associated with execution of software including one or more computer program instructions. For example, one or more of the procedures described above may be embodied by computer program instructions. In this regard, the computer program instructions which embody the procedures described above may be stored by a memory device of an apparatus employing an

embodiment of the present invention and executed by a processor in the apparatus. As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus (e.g., hardware) to produce a machine, such that the resulting computer or other programmable apparatus provides for implementation of the functions specified in the flowcharts block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage memory that may direct a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage memory produce an article of manufacture the execution of which implements the function specified in the flowcharts block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operations to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide operations for implementing the functions specified in the flowcharts block(s).

[0084] Accordingly, blocks of the flowcharts support combinations of means for performing the specified functions and combinations of operations for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that one or more blocks of the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts, can be implemented by special purpose hardware- based computer systems which perform the specified functions, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0085] Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different

combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a terminal apparatus, a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network, the missing sensor notification message indicating one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network;

determining, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the terminal apparatus; and

in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, causing a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the terminal apparatus comprises a dual mode terminal apparatus comprising a wireless sensor network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and one or more sensor nodes using the wireless sensor network signaling technology and a cellular network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and the cellular network.

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, further comprising:

maintaining, at the terminal apparatus, a potential serving list of one or more sensor nodes determined to be within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology; and

wherein determining whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology comprises determining whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are included in the potential serving list.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein the potential serving list comprises a list of one or more sensors heard by the terminal apparatus; and wherein in an instance in which a sensor node on the potential list is not heard for a predefined period of time, maintaining the potential serving list comprises removing the sensor node from the potential serving list.

5. The method of any of Claims 1-4, further comprising:

receiving, in response to the gateway serving request, a gateway serving response from the access point selecting the terminal apparatus to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes; and

causing, in response to the gateway serving response, the terminal apparatus to serve as gateway between the at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

6. The method of any of Claims 1-5, further comprising, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent:

causing a gateway pre-request message indicating the determined one or more sensor nodes to be sent via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, wherein the gateway pre-request message is configured to prevent any second terminal apparatus receiving the gateway pre-request message from sending a request to the access point requesting to serve as a gateway for any of the one or more sensor nodes indicated in the gateway pre-request message.

7. The method of any of Claims 1-6, further comprising, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent:

receiving, via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, at least one gateway pre-request message sent by one or more second terminal apparatuses; and

determining whether the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies any of the determined one or more sensor nodes;

wherein in an instance in which it is determined that the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes, but does not identify each of the determined one or more sensor nodes, causing the gateway serving request to be sent comprises causing a gateway serving request requesting that the terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between each of the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network except for the at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes identified in the received at least one gateway pre-request message; and wherein the gateway serving request is not sent in an instance in which it is determined that the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies each of the determined one or more sensor nodes.

8. The method of any of Claims 1-7, wherein the wireless sensor network signaling technology comprises a contention-based communication mechanism to prevent multiple terminal apparatuses from concurrently sending messages using the wireless sensor network signaling technology,

9. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable medium having computer-readable program instructions stored therein, the computer- readable program instructions comprising instructions configured to cause an apparatus to perform the method of any of Claims 1-8.

10. A computer program comprising instructions that, when performed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any of Claims 1-8.

1 1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

receive a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network, the missing sensor notification message indicating one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network;

determine, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the apparatus; and

in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, cause a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

12. The apparatus of Claim 1 1 , wherein the apparatus is implemented on a dual mode terminal apparatus comprising a wireless sensor network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and one or more sensor nodes using the wireless sensor network signaling technology and a cellular network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and the cellular network.

13. The apparatus of any of Claims 11-12, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

maintain a potential serving list of one or more sensor nodes determined to be within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology; and

determine whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology at least in part by determining whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are included in the potential serving list.

14. The apparatus of Claim 13, wherein the potential serving list comprises a list of one or more sensors heard by the apparatus; and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus, in an instance in which a sensor node on the potential list is not heard for a predefined period of time, to remove the sensor node from the potential serving list.

15. The apparatus of any of Claims 1 1-14, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

receive, in response to the gateway serving request, a gateway serving response from the access point selecting the apparatus to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes; and

cause, in response to the gateway serving response, the apparatus to serve as gateway between the at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

16. The apparatus of any of Claims 1 1-15, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent, to: cause a gateway pre-request message indicating the determined one or more sensor nodes to be sent via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, wherein the gateway pre-request message is configured to prevent any further apparatus receiving the gateway pre- request message from sending a request to the access point requesting to serve as a gateway for any of the one or more sensor nodes indicated in the gateway pre-request message.

17. The apparatus of any of Claims 11-16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent, to:

receive, via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, at least one gateway pre-request message sent by one or more further apparatuses; and

determine whether the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies any of the determined one or more sensor nodes;

in an instance in which it is determined that the received at least one gateway pre- request message identifies at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes, but does not identify each of the determined one or more sensor nodes, cause the gateway serving request to be sent at least in part by causing a gateway serving request requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between each of the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network except for the at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes identified in the received at least one gateway pre-request message; and not send the gateway serving request in an instance in which it is determined that the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies each of the determined one or more sensor nodes.

18. The apparatus of any of Claims 1 1-17, wherein the wireless sensor network signaling technology comprises a contention-based communication mechanism to prevent multiple terminal apparatuses from concurrently sending messages using the wireless sensor network signaling technology.

19. The apparatus of any of Claims 11-18, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone, the mobile phone further comprising:

user interface circuitry; and

user interface software configured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile phone through use of a display.

20. A computer program product comprising:

at least one computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code comprising instructions, which when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least:

21. The computer program product of Claim 20, apparatus is implemented on a dual mode terminal apparatus comprising a wireless sensor network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and one or more sensor nodes using the wireless sensor network signaling technology and a cellular network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and the cellular network.

22. The computer program product of any of Claims 20-21 , wherein the program code further comprises instructions configured to cause the apparatus to:

23. The computer program product of Claim 22, wherein the potential serving list comprises a list of one or more sensors heard by the apparatus; and wherein the program code further comprises instructions configured to cause the apparatus, in an instance in which a sensor node on the potential list is not heard for a predefined period of time, to remove the sensor node from the potential serving list.

24. The computer program product of any of Claims 20-23, wherein the program code further comprises instructions configured to cause the apparatus to:

25. The computer program product of any of Claims 20-24, wherein the program code further comprises instructions configured to cause the apparatus, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent, to:

cause a gateway pre-request message indicating the determined one or more sensor nodes to be sent via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, wherein the gateway pre-request message is configured to prevent any further apparatus receiving the gateway pre- request message from sending a request to the access point requesting to serve as a gateway for any of the one or more sensor nodes indicated in the gateway pre-request message.

26. The computer program product of any of Claims 20-25, wherein the program code further comprises instructions configured to cause the apparatus, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent, to:

receive, via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, at least one gateway pre-request message sent by one or more further apparatuses;

27. The computer program product of any of Claims 20-26, wherein the wireless sensor network signaling technology comprises a contention-based communication mechanism to prevent multiple terminal apparatuses from concurrently sending messages using the wireless sensor network signaling technology.

28. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a missing sensor notification message from an access point for a cellular network, the missing sensor notification message indicating one or more sensor nodes for which a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network; means for determining, in response to the missing sensor notification message, whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the apparatus; and

means for, in an instance in which it is determined that one or more sensor nodes indicated by the missing sensor notification are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology, causing a gateway serving request to be sent to the access point requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

29. The apparatus of Claim 28, wherein the apparatus comprises a dual mode terminal apparatus comprising a wireless sensor network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and one or more sensor nodes using the wireless sensor network signaling technology and a cellular network interface configured to enable communication between the terminal apparatus and the cellular network.

30. The apparatus of any of Claims 28-29, further comprising:

means for maintaining a potential serving list of one or more sensor nodes determined to be within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology; and wherein the means for determining whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are within the signaling range of the wireless sensor network signaling technology comprises means for determining whether any of the indicated one or more sensor nodes are included in the potential serving list.

31. The apparatus of Claim 30, wherein the potential serving list comprises a list of one or more sensors heard by the apparatus; and

wherein the means for maintaining the potential serving list comprises means for, in an instance in which a sensor node on the potential list is not heard for a predefined period of time, removing the sensor node from the potential serving list.

32. The apparatus of any of Claims 28-31 , further comprising:

means for receiving, in response to the gateway serving request, a gateway serving response from the access point selecting the apparatus to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes; and

means for causing, in response to the gateway serving response, the apparatus to serve as gateway between the at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network.

33. The apparatus of any of Claims 28-32, further comprising means for, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent, causing a gateway pre-request message indicating the determined one or more sensor nodes to be sent via the wireless sensor network signaling technology, wherein the gateway pre-request message is configured to prevent any further apparatus receiving the gateway pre-request message from sending a request to the access point requesting to serve as a gateway for any of the one or more sensor nodes indicated in the gateway pre-request message.

34. The apparatus of any of Claims 28-33, further comprising, means for, prior to the gateway serving request message being sent:

determining whether the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies any of the determined one or more sensor nodes; wherein the means for causing the gateway serving request to be sent comprise means for, in an instance in which it is determined that the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes, but does not identify each of the determined one or more sensor nodes, causing a gateway serving request requesting that the apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between each of the determined one or more sensor nodes and the cellular network except for the at least one of the determined one or more sensor nodes identified in the received at least one gateway pre- request message; and

wherein the means for causing the gateway serving request to be sent comprise means for not sending the gateway serving request in an instance in which it is determined that the received at least one gateway pre-request message identifies each of the determined one or more sensor nodes.

35. The apparatus of any of Claims 28-34, wherein the wireless sensor network signaling technology comprises a contention-based communication mechanism to prevent multiple terminal apparatuses from concurrently sending messages using the wireless sensor network signaling technology.

36. A method comprising:

receiving, at an access point for a cellular network, a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to the cellular network;

causing a missing sensor notification message to be sent from the access point to a second terminal apparatus, the missing sensor notification message indicating that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report;

receiving, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus, the gateway serving request indicating that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second terminal apparatus and requesting that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network;

selecting the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request; and causing a gateway serving response to be sent from the access point to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.

37. A computer program comprising instructions that, when performed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of Claim 36.

38. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

receive a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to a cellular network;

cause a missing sensor notification message to be sent to a second terminal apparatus, the missing sensor notification message indicating that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report; receive, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus, the gateway serving request indicating that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second terminal apparatus and requesting that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network;

select the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request; and

cause a gateway serving response to be sent to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.

39. The apparatus of Claim 38, wherein the apparatus is implemented on an access point for the cellular network.

40. The apparatus of Claim 39, wherein the access point comprises an evolved node B, and wherein the cellular network comprises a Long Term Evolution Network.

41. A computer program product comprising:

42. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a missing sensor report sent by a first terminal apparatus indicating that the first terminal apparatus no longer has contact with a sensor node for which the first terminal apparatus had been serving as a gateway to a cellular network;

means for causing a missing sensor notification message to be sent to a second terminal apparatus, the missing sensor notification message indicating that a device needs to be selected to serve as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node indicated in the missing sensor report;

means for receiving, in response to the missing sensor notification message, a gateway serving request from the second terminal apparatus, the gateway serving request indicating that the sensor node is within a signaling range of a wireless sensor network signaling technology supported by the second terminal apparatus and requesting that the second terminal apparatus be selected to serve as a gateway between the sensor node and the cellular network;

means for selecting the second terminal apparatus to serve as gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node based at least in part on the received gateway serving request; and

means for causing a gateway serving response to be sent to the second terminal apparatus to inform the second terminal apparatus that the second terminal apparatus has been selected to serve for as a gateway to the cellular network for the sensor node.