WO2018197589A1

WO2018197589A1 - Sensor roaming and link handover

Info

Publication number: WO2018197589A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/060645
Authority: WO
Inventors: Knut ELDHUSET; Terje LASSEN; Jorgen TEGDAN
Original assignee: Disruptive Technologies Research As
Priority date: 2017-04-25
Filing date: 2018-04-25
Publication date: 2018-11-01
Also published as: GB201916943D0; DE112018002165T5; GB2576455B; GB2576455A

Abstract

Systems and methods for enabling roaming include a cloud environment comprising distributed memory and computational facilities as well as multiple gateways providing access to the cloud environment. A mobile sensor node is configured to communicate with the cloud environment through one of the gateways. The gateway may be selected based on the location of the mobile sensor node at that time. The mobile sensor node and cloud are configured to establish an encrypted connection that is independent of the gateway being used to transfer data over the encrypted the connection, such that when the mobile sensor node ceases communication through one of the first and second gateways and initiates communication through the other of the first and second gateways, the encrypted connection is maintained without the need for a new link bring-up.

Description

SENSOR ROAMING AND LINK HANDOVER

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure is related generally to mobile electronic devices and, more particularly, to system and method for roaming in wireless networks.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Mobile sensors, such as those found on mobile devices, often need to communicate their readings, receive instructions, be calibrated, and engage in various other activities that require internet communication. Such devices access the internet or other wider area network via access points. However, when a device "roams," from one access point to another, a new connection, including new encryption protocols and so on, must be established with the new access point. This is problematic in that it causes delay and error.

[0003] Before proceeding to the remainder of this disclosure, it should be appreciated that the disclosure may address some of the shortcomings listed or implicit in this Background section. However, any such benefit is not a limitation on the scope of the disclosed principles, or of the attached claims, except to the extent expressly noted in the claims.

[0004] Additionally, the discussion of technology in this Background section is reflective of the inventors' own observations, considerations, and thoughts, and is in no way intended to be, to accurately catalog, or to comprehensively summarize any prior art reference or practice. As such, the inventors expressly disclaim this section as admitted or assumed prior art. Moreover, the identification or implication herein of one or more desirable courses of action reflects the inventors' own observations and ideas, and should not be assumed to indicate an art-recognized desirability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] While the appended claims set forth the features of the present techniques with particularity, these techniques, together with their objects and advantages, may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing:

[0006] Figure 1 is a simplified schematic of the operational environment of an embodiment of the described principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0007] Before presenting a detailed recitation of embodiments of the disclosed principles in claim form, an overview of embodiments is given to aid the reader in understanding the later discussion. As noted above, facilitating roaming can be difficult due to lack of complete information or lack of up to date information. Mobile sensors, such as those found on mobile devices, often need to communicate their readings, receive instructions, be calibrated, and engage in various other activities that require internet communication. Such devices access the internet or other wider area network via access points. However, when a device "roams," from one access point to another, a new connection, including new encryption protocols and so on, must be established with the new access point. This is problematic in that it causes delay and error.

[0008] This disclosure provides a new method for facilitating roaming for a mobile electronic device in wireless networks. The system consists of three main components, namely sensor nodes, gateways and the cloud, sensor nodes are small wireless sensors transmitting information. Gateways or "cloud connectors" receive the information from the sensor nodes and forward this information to a cloud solution. Finally, The Cloud is a software solution residing in the cloud (i.e., residing on one or more servers with connectivity to the internet) that gathers all data from all sensors and presents this to an authenticated user.

[0009] The concept is shown schematically in Figure 1, including mobile devices 101 (sensor nodes), a gateway 103 a cloud 105 and an end-user PC 107. As can be seen, the disclosed system allows the sensor nodes to move freely from one gateway to another while maintaining encryption and authenticity in both directions over the communication link.

[0010] This is done without the need for a new link bring -up when the sensor moves to another gateway. The move can be initiated by either the sensor or a gateway physically moving, by radio disturbance on the established channel or by a gateway loosing connection or power, or by a gateway being removed.

[0011] This is achieved by establishing a secure link between the sensor node and the cloud. The gateway will act a middleman without understanding or needing to understand which node it is talking to or the contents of the messages being sent.

[0012] With respect to uplink activities, for messages going from the sensor node to the cloud ("uplink"), the gateway will just forward any message that passes tests, e.g., for bit errors and similar. If several gateways receives the same message from the same sensor node, all gateways will forward the same message to the cloud where it will be detected that they are in fact copies of the same message. Decryption of the message and verification of authenticity is done by the cloud.

[0013] With respect to downlink activities, for messages going from the cloud to a sensor node, the cloud will select one gateway as the contact point for the sensor node. This is based, in an embodiment, on which gateway has the best radio communication link with the sensor. The measure of best may be determined via signal to noise, latency, or other suitable metric. [0014] The cloud will the send the encrypted message to the gateway, and the gateway will then forward this to the designated node when the node is ready to receive.

[0015] The encryption in the system is done fully independent of the gateway, and as such, the nodes and gateways can move freely while keeping the encrypted link between sensor node and the cloud fully operational. In other words, the gateways are not part of the encryption/decryption topology.

[0016] It will be appreciated that the process steps executed herein may be executed via the computerized execution of computer-readable instructions from a non-transitory memory. It will also be appreciated that various systems and processes have been disclosed herein. However, in view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the present disclosure may be applied, it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the claims. Therefore, the techniques as described herein contemplate all such embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS We claim:

1. A system for enabling roaming comprising:

a cloud environment comprising distributed memory and computational facilities; a first gateway providing access to the cloud environment;

a second gateway providing access to the cloud environment; and

at least one mobile sensor node, configured to communicate with the cloud environment through either of the first and second gateways, the gateway for communication at any time being selected based on the location of the mobile sensor node at that time, and wherein the mobile sensor node and cloud are configured to establish an encrypted connection that is independent of the gateway being used to transfer data over the encrypted the connection, such that when the mobile sensor node ceases communication through one of the first and second gateways and initiates communication through the other of the first and second gateways, the encrypted connection is maintained without the need for a new link bring-up.

2. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the encrypted connection is also used for authentication.

3. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cessation of communication through one of the first and second gateways and initiation of communication through the other of the first and second gateways is caused by radio disturbance on the established channel or by the gateway loosing connection or power, or by the gateway being removed.

4. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the encrypted connection is a secure link.

5. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein for a message going from the sensor node to the cloud, the gateway in use forwards the message to the cloud with engaging in encryption or decryption.

6. The system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the gateway tests the message for errors.

7. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cloud is configured to detect recipt of multiple copies of the same message from multiple gateways.

8. The system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the cloud is configured to decrypt the message and verify of authenticity.

9. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein for messages going from the cloud to a sensor node the cloud is configured to select one gateway as a contact point for the sensor node.

10. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the selection of a gateway is based at least in part on which gateway has the best radio communication link with the sensor.